Plans To Raise Dam Level Rejected

San Andreas, CA– Plans to raise the levels at Pardee Reservoir was rejected by a judge Thursday.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy M. Frawley ruled that the East Bay Municipal Utility District failed to identify the project’s potential environmental dangers.

The district approved the $6 million study of a project to raise the dam at Pardee Reservoir in 2009. The analysis concluded that the district would have to build a major desalination plant or raise the dam to meet the drought protection goals.

Because the district said it had not actually proposed to build the dam, it did not have to fully identify environmental damage. The Oakland-based East Bay Municipal District provides water for 1.4 million customers in Oakland and other East Bay cities.

The Pardee Dam is located across the Mokelumne River which marks the boundary between Amador and Calaveras Counties.

Written by tina.falco@mlode.com