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Foothill 7 TV Interview

Thank you EID

EDITOR:

From someone who benefits every day from living next to the newly updated Forebay Reservoir and appreciates the votes to upgrade the Main Ditch, converting 3 miles of open-water ditch within the backyards of neighborhoods to a closed piping system is something the greater communities will benefit from.

I do not find the resistance group Save the Canal’s (STC) arguments not to go forward with this project compelling. Many of the facts and concerns they profess are not reality but come from emotional propaganda designed to gain public support. STC said the ditch is a fire break? Maybe it could be a water source for those residents living along the canal or even a possible fire line, but saying it is a fire break is an exaggeration. STC said it was used during the King Fire to fight the fire. The King Fire never burned up to Forebay Road let alone onto Blair Road. In no place within the 3 miles of the Main Ditch was this canal used to fight the King Fire If it was used further up the canal, then they are purposely being misleading. STC said the trees would die due to the lack of water. Their septic systems will provide more than enough water for the trees. Has anyone up here noticed a lack of tree from not enough water?

The new water pipe will deliver clearer safe drinking water to the treatment plant.

This project does bring a great value to the others who live in the area due to the fire hydrants EID is installing. This continuing failed STC lawsuit has only greatly raised the cost of this project, as now the pipe will be installed under Blair Road. This new location will greatly impact the access for homeowners during construction. When the project was located under of the canal EID would have maintained it and we all could still use it as a walking path. I see those days numbered from those homeowners who never wanted the public walking behind their yards. Those signs have been posted for longer than this fight. EID will withdraw from their easement rights and STC folks will be left with a mosquito-breeding ditch. The vote was tight, so I really thank those board members who supported this project.

HEATHER CAMPBELL
Pollock Pines

Main Ditch Conversion is Long Overdue

EDITOR:

Hallelujah, El Dorado Irrigation District has finally awarded a contract to replace the Upper Main Ditch with pipes! Delivering water through ditches may have been good enough for great-Grandpa, but modern times demand modern technology, especially for something as vital as drinking water.

Water that flows in the Main Ditch is treated and then serves most of EID’s customers between Pollock Pines and El Dorado Hills. Before it reaches the treatment plant, the open, earthen ditch winds past houses, businesses, and lonely country roads. How much erosion, silty storm runoff, dirty road drainage, and foul septic system seepage reaches the water on its way to the treatment plant? What is that guy dumping from his pickup truck? How much garbage and waste, and how many deer, skunk, or other carcasses do EID workers remove from the ditch each year?

These are not rhetorical questions – every one of these things has happened in recent years. Maybe great-Grandpa didn’t mind that stuff, but we live in the 21st century. We expect better.

EID treats our drinking water to meet stringent health standards, 24/7/365. The cleaner the water arrives at the treatment plant, the less time, chemicals, and electricity (i.e., money) EID spends on treatment. Not to mention that the pipes will eliminate the ditch’s massive water leakage and evaporation – a feature that’s won EID millions of grant dollars for this project.

The project’s noisy opponents are mostly folks who like having a backyard or neighborhood “creek.” I get it – I wish the old EID ditch in my backyard still carried water, too. But EID’s job is to provide safe drinking water to over 100,000 people, not underwrite the lifestyles of a lucky few. This project has been needed for decades. Kudos to EID Directors George Osborne, Michael Raffety, and Pat Dwyer for prioritizing our community’s public health and safety.

TOM CUMPSTON

PLACERVILLE

As usual Greg Prada cherry picks so called facts to support his false narrative. Let’s look at actual facts found in the Proposition 218 Notice required by the state of California, a copy of which can be found on the EID web site. The actual EID bill one pays is more important than any rate increase, but we’ll look at the increases first, since that’s Prada’s focus.

Prada leaves out pertinent facts and reaches wildly wrong conclusions. For example, he includes rate increases in years 2010—2013, but ignores all the prior years with no increases. In recent years, 2014 through 2020, EID rate increases averaged less than 3% annually, 20.5% for those seven years, far below Prada’s 102%.

Let’s look at a hypothetical EID bill in 2020, which Prada ignores because it fails to support his narrative. The bill for 3000cf of water with a ¾” meter is $113.64, $26.87 lower than the average for 18 water districts in our region and the fifth lowest. We all wish EID rates were lower, but freezing rates as happened prior to 2010 is not the answer, and neither is cutting corners providing safe, reliable water.

Directors Michael Raffety and George Osborne have voted to keep water rates reasonable and should be returned to the EID board for all that they have accomplished. By the way, annual rate increases have been about 3% since Raffety was first elected, not Prada’s wildly inflated figure.

Harry Norris, Camino

To Pipe or Not To Pipe, That is the Question

The decision to pipe the main ditch, aka El Dorado Canal, has been made. But, was that the right decision? Let’s look at both sides of the issue.

El Dorado Irrigation District has transported water three miles in an open ditch from Forebay Reservoir to a treatment plant in Pollock Pines for decades. No deaths or serious illnesses have been documented from drinking the treated water. The ditch, aka El Dorado Canal, is an attractive water feature, except when it’s emptied four to six months each year for maintenance. Large trees grow along its banks and wildlife is attracted to the area. Neighbors and visitors enjoy walking along the adjacent path. Some claim that the canal helps keep wild land fire from reaching homes along the way. Trees along the canal may die without the life sustaining water from the canal unless property owners chose to water them. It’s undisputed that the canal enhances the lives of those whose back yards border it. So, is El Dorado Irrigation District nothing but a cold hearted government agency to obliterate a canal which means so much to some Pollock Pines residents? Let’s look at the other side.

No EID responsibility is greater than that of providing safe drinking water 24/7, 365 days a year to 42,000 families and businesses. This responsibility is becoming increasingly difficult to fulfill at the Pollock Pines water treatment plant. Over time the numbers of people using and abusing the canal have increased. Human remains and dead animals have been recovered from the ditch, along with batteries, tires, a motorcycle. Even hydro seeding chemicals have been pumped into the canal. Septic systems along the canal regularly leach ecoli and coliform into the water as well. This is the last open ditch from a reservoir to a treatment facility in the EID system. EID says, “EID customers are at risk from deadly contamination until a pipe replaces the open ditch if a problem occurs at the treatment plant”.

So, how does EID intend to pay for the $15 million, three mile pipe? Two ways water saved and treatment costs reduced. About 1,800 acre feet of water is lost annually to seepage and evaporation from the ditch. The water saved will be used to produce more hydro power to pay for much of the project. After producing power the water will travel to Folsom Lake where it will still have value as consumptive water. Besides the carrot, there is a stick. The state mandates efficient use of water for EID to retain full use of its water rights. Future fines are a possibility if EID fails to conserve precious water. In short, EID cannot continue doing business the way it did fifty years ago.

Water treatment costs are high for this treatment plant. The ditch requires constant maintenance throughout the year to keep it clean and remove foreign material. Filters need to be serviced more often. Extra chlorine is required. The pipe eliminates these extra costs helping pay for the project.

So, the question is: Which is more important, maintaining an open canal for the enjoyment of a few hundred people, or piping an open ditch to enhance the safety of thousands while meeting conservation goals? EID and Judge Sullivan had it right. The ditch needs to be piped.

Harry Norris,

Former EID Board Member

Should EID Spend Less?

This year’s EID Budget allocates $21.5 million for infrastructure maintenance and repair. Which ones would you eliminate?

Which of the 9 dams EID controls would you not maintain for the health and safety of our community?
Which of the 5 water treatment plants, which ensure safe, healthy, reliable water, would you not maintain?
Which of the 2200 miles of pipe would you not replace, knowing that some are 50-60 years old and leaking?
Which of the sewer treatment plants, which must meet state and federal standards while minimizing risk of sewage overflows, would you not maintain?
Which of the 22 miles of flumes, which supply 1/3 of our water would you not repair knowing the flume system is over 100 years old?
Which of the 64 pressure stations and lift stations are you not going to maintain to keep consistent water pressure and proper sewage drainage?
By the way, developer fees, not rate payers, pay for all costs of expanding EID systems to accommodate growth.

Cutting maintenance would jeopardize EID’s primary responsibility to provide safe, reliable water, recycle water and wastewater services. Reasonable rate increases keep pace with construction and maintenance costs which consistently have risen faster than the Consumer Price Index.

Bill George

Placerville

For Immediate Release October 14, 2020

Contact: Tom Hudson (916) 672-8744

California Taxpayer Protection Committee Endorses Turboo And Osborne

Sacramento, CA – The California Taxpayer Protection Committee has unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed George Turnboo in the red hot El Dorado County District II Supervisor contest and George Osborne for re-election to the El Dorado Irrigation District in Division I. Turnboo is an independent small business owner from Somerset and Osborne is a retired CalFire Unit Chief from Camino.

“George Turnboo will bring the frugal eye of a small business owner to the County Board of Supervisors,” predicted Tom Hudson, President of the California Taxpayer Protection Committee, “along with the strength to hold County management accountable and common sense to question the real need for staff-driven spending proposals like installing wasteful roundabouts.”

“George Osborne has a long and proven record of protecting Taxpayers, “explained Hudson, “like keeping his limited government promise by shrinking EID’s workforce by nearly one third and buying the District’s main water source, Sly Park, from the Federal Government so rate payers don’t have to buy their own water anymore. “

The California Taxpayer Protection Committee is a non-partisan statewide taxpayer advocacy organization that fights to stop reckless and unnecessary government spending. The group supports candidates who seek justice for taxpayers, lower taxes and fees, tax simplification, and tax reform.

The deadline to return ballots is Tuesday, November 3.

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