Two local government entities have agreed to form a
historic partnership to manage a
The county
supervisors and the Placer County Water Agency's board of directors, in a joint
meeting Tuesday, approved the creation of a joint powers authority to
financially manage the Middle Fork American River Project.
The project, a
system of dams and waterways along the
The federal license
that allows the water agency, which owns the project, to sell the energy
created by the project, is up for relicensing in
2013, thus creating a need to work together, officials said.
"The relicensing of the Middle Fork project is such a huge,
complex issue that we really felt that together, we could do a better job and
help one another," county Supervisor Bill Santucci
said. "This was really a very unusual thing for a water agency and Board
of Supervisors to enter into, and it shows the trust the two boards have in one
another."
According to
preliminary estimates, the relicensing is ex-pected to cost about $35 million, which includes paying for
the studies, engineering and environmental research associated with the
project, said Anita Yoder, county information officer.
The history of the
Middle Fork project dates back to 1961, when
The water and power
project includes four reservoirs, seven dams and five hydroelectric power
plants, Yoder said.
The Placer County
Water Agency operates the project, first licensed in 1963 by the federal Energy
Regulatory Commission.
When the water
agency added an independently elected board of directors to its governance
framework in 1975, the state law creating the agency was amended so approval by
county supervisors was required on contracts for the sale of electrical energy
and the expenditure of revenues associated with energy sales, county documents
state.
The new joint powers
authority - which will be composed of two county supervisors and two water
agency directors - will be responsible for managing the finances and work
associated with relicensing the project, approving
any new contracts for energy sales and providing a framework for how revenues
from energy sales will be spent.
Creating the
authority is the first step in the process, Holly Heinzen,
assistant county executive officer, said during Tuesday's meeting.
"This sets up
the framework for day-to-day business," Heinzen
said.
Supervisor Bruce Kranz, who praised the decision to form the authority,
urged fellow supervisors and water agency directors to create a policy
delineating how the revenues from energy sales should be used.
"I think we
should have an overriding policy that says all revenues generated from the JPA
be directed to water, water quality and energy-related issues," he said
during the meeting. "This is giving us opportunities that we can't afford
to lose."
Kranz said he envisions making funds
available annually in the form of grants.
Other supervisors
agreed that revenue generated from power sales should go toward maintaining
water and power infrastructure, but policies will be established later, since
no revenues will be seen until after the 2013 relicensing.
"I don't think
there's anything wrong with that, and it's probably a proper thing to do,"
Santucci said.
Santucci said the relicensing
of the Middle Fork project has many benefits for
"It means we're
going to get good, clean, drinkable water, and we'll be our own source of
water," he said. "It also means we'll run the project, and we can
sell electricity."
Pauline Roccucci,
a water agency director, said at the meeting that the relicensing
process is lengthy and expensive but well worth the time and money.
"It's an
opportunity of a lifetime that our forefathers gave us," she said.