HEAVY HITTERS
Great adventure
Ponderosa softball showing talent on the diamond. Sports, A6
Exploring Great Basin National Park brings back memories.
News, etc., B1
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C a l i f o r n i a ’ s O l d e s t N e w s pa p e r – E s t. 18 51
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Volume 170 • Issue 57 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, May 14, 2021
Body cams to bring ‘modern approach’ to EDSO Chris Daley Mountain Democrat correspondent El Dorado County supervisors at Tuesday’s board meeting authorized a move to bring body-worn cameras to the Sheriff ’s Office. As directed, Chief Administrative Officer Don Ashton said he will include a partial element of the item in his development of the preliminary budget between now and June. It will be partial because the fiscal year will already be nearly half over by the time a final
or recommended budget is accepted in mid-to-late September. Sheriff John D’Agostini summarized data from a letter and presentation he had sent to the board for the meeting. “It’s become very clear to me that it is time for us to adopt this kind of program,” he began. “Technology has caught up and the costs and extra duty for staff are warranted.” He continued explaining that “it’s expected in this day and age and the bottom line
for the board now is the cost.” Studies were conducted on two fairly comparable systems, he said and recommended the county adopt the Watchguard system, noting that “its technology seems more affordable and is the easiest to use.” Acknowledging budget issues, D’A’gostini further explained, “It’s possible that downstream, the district attorney and public defender would stream video evidence as well.” County District Attorney Vern Pierson called in to
“It’s time to adopt the technology and the transparency … ” — John D’Agostini, El Dorado County sheriff the meeting and stated, “I definitely think it’s time for it.” He said the public defender would probably agree. “Now is the time. It’s the industry standard, the modern approach to law enforcement. I understand the budget concerns,” D’Agostini concluded. But, “it will have to be fully funded by
the Board of Supervisors.” Supervisor Sue Novasel from South Lake Tahoe and District 3’s Wendy Thomas weighed in praising the Sheriff ’s efforts “for following technology and for gratitude for his thoroughness.” Dsitrict 2 Supervisor George Turnboo pointed out that body cameras n
See Body cams, page A8
EID’s Folsom territory to be developed Michael Raffety Mountain Democrat correspondent El Dorado Irrigation District’s territory extends across the county line to a small piece of Folsom — a total of 190 acres. A developer is planning to turn that acreage into a subdivision. Currently the property is all range land and there is no request for water service. The earliest that water service could be requested may not be until 2023. El Dorado Irrigation District has been a multi-county agency since the early 1980s, according to Jesse Saich, EID communications manager. The 190 acres was annexed to EID’s territory so that the district would qualify for an exemption from the state raiding the district’s property tax allocation. That property tax allocation subsidizes the cost of water and sewer rates. The environmental documentation has already been approved as part of Folsom’s south of Highway 50 project, according to EID Director of Engineering Brian Mueller. Subdivision plans will be submitted in parallel to Folsom and EID, Mueller said. EID will review pipeline sizes, require a water booster, add a sewer lift station as well as upgrade an existing lift station, Mueller said. Finally hookup fees will be paid once building construction begins. Called Folsom Heights, the proposal includes 407 single-family residential units, 123 multi-family units and 11.4 acres of commercial development, according to information from EID General Manager Jim Abercrombie. He also noted, “Buildout time will depend on market conditions and could take three to five years or more once the water and sewer lines are put into service.” The district understands that mass pad grading may begin in spring 2022, followed by installation of underground utilities in fall 2022, Abercrombie said. EID has a firm yield of 63,500 acrefeet of water, according to the 2019 Comprehensive Financial Report. That same report lists 23,133 acre-feet of metered consumption, down from 27,000 acre-feet in 2010. Total raw water diversions are 31,906 acre-feet in 2019. Real and apparent losses total 5,811 acrefeet. The El Dorado Hills Water Treatment Plant, which will eventually serve Folsom Heights, currently serves 13,100 connections. In August 2020 its average water production
Photo by Cecilia Clark
Folsom Reservoir, which is filled by the American River watershed, is at 38% of its storage capacity with about 369,000 acre-feet of water. Last year at this time Folsom held 737,000 acre-feet.
Depleted snowpack runoff lands 41 counties in drought Mountain Democrat staff SACRAMENTO — El Dorado County has been added to the state’s list of counties declared to be in a drought. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday expanded his April 21 drought emergency proclamation to include Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake watershed counties where accelerated action is needed to protect public health, safety and the environment. Forty-one counties are now under a drought state of emergency, representing 30% of the state’s population. Leaders say climate-change-induced early warm temperatures and extremely dry soils have further depleted the expected runoff water from the Sierra-Cascade snowpack, resulting in historic and unanticipated reductions in the amount of water flowing to major reservoirs. “We’re working with local officials and other partners to protect public health and safety and the environment, and call on all Californians to help meet this challenge by stepping up their efforts to save water,” said Newsom. In April Newsom signed an emergency proclamation directing state agencies to take immediate action to bolster drought resilience across the state and declaring a state of emergency in Mendocino and Sonoma counties due to severe drought conditions in the Russian River watershed. The expanded drought emergency proclamation
adds the following 39 counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba counties. Extraordinarily warm temperatures in April and early May separate this critically dry year from all others on California record, according to the Governor’s Office. California experienced an accelerated rate of snow melt in the Sacramento, Feather and American River watersheds, which feed major reservoirs and federal water projects. This was exacerbated when much of the snowpack, sitting on very dry ground, seeped into the earth rather than flowing into rivers, streams and reservoirs. State officials also said warming temperatures prompted water diverters below dams to withdraw their water much earlier and in greater volumes than typical even in other recent critically dry years. These factors reduced expected water supplies by more than 500,000 acre-feet, enough to supply up to one million households with water for a year. The governor’s proclamation directs the State Water Board to consider modifying requirements for reservoir releases and diversion limitations to conserve water n
See Drought, page A9
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