EBMUD board votes 7-0 to drop Pardee Expansion from revised water plan

Courtesy of Foothill Conservancy

On Tuesday, April 24 in Oakland, the East Bay Municipal Utility District
Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve a revised district Water
Supply Management Plan 2040 that drops the controversial expansion of Pardee
Reservoir. The expansion would have destroyed at least a mile of the
Mokelumne River, including a section eligible for National Wild and Scenic
River designation.

The original WSMP 2040, adopted in October 2009, was successfully challenged
in court by the Foothill Conservancy, California Sportfishing Protection
Alliance and Friends of the River. A resulting court order required EBMUD to
conduct further environmental review and consider participating in the
expansion of Los Vaqueros Reservoir in Contra Costa County. The revised WSMP
is a result of the revised environmental review. It includes a partnership
with the Contra Costa Water District in the Los Vaqueros Expansion, expected
to be completed later this year.

“We are very happy with the outcome of this long and challenging process,”
said Foothill Conservancy President Katherine Evatt after the meeting.
“We’re proud of our foothill communities for coming together to tell EBMUD
“no” and to protect the Mokelumne River. We’re glad we filed the suit and
saw it through. And we’re grateful to EBMUD for changing course. Their
decision is right for the foothills, right for the East Bay, and right for
the Mokelumne River. Now we can move on to permanently protecting the river
with National Wild and Scenic River designation so no one has to go through
a process like this on the upper Moke again.”

“The judge’s order led to a better outcome,” said Chris Shutes of the
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “EBMUD has taken a stand to
protect Delta inflow and water quality. West-of-Delta storage is a
forward-thinking approach that should be front and center for the entire Bay
Area.”

The proposed Pardee expansion would have flooded the Mokelumne River’s
Middle Bar reach below Highway 49 and part of the Electra Run upstream.
The lower end of the Electra Run has been found eligible for National Wild
and Scenic River designation, and advocates want the designation to extend
to the existing high pool of Pardee Reservoir.

“Every river eligible for National Wild and Scenic River designation is
nationally significant,” said Friends of the River’s Ronald Stork.
“They’re just as valuable as our national parks. That’s one of the reasons
we joined in this important effort to save the Mokelumne.”

“This process worked,” said John A. Coleman, EBMUD board president. “We
listened, we heard, and we acted. It has always been our intent to do the
right thing for our customers and partners to get the best use possible out
of this precious resource. Together, we will continue to work cooperatively
as a region to solve other tough problems ahead.”

For more information, contact Katherine Evatt of Foothill Conservancy at
209-296-5734.