Pat McGreevey of the Calaveras‑Amador Forestry Team and Kelly Gherkinsmeyer of the Calaveras County Water District described ongoing fuel‑reduction and watershed‑protection work across Calaveras County during the Be Prepared Calaveras radio program.

The officials said the work centers on a mapped system of strategic fuel breaks along key ridgelines — primarily the Highway 4 Corridor and adjacent areas — designed to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic wildfire and to protect water infrastructure that serves local communities. "Our goal was to prevent any future catastrophic fire like Butte," McGreevey said, referring to the 2015 Butte Fire that burned large areas of the county.

Why it matters: McGreevey told listeners that the Hunter Reservoir facility is a top priority because of its role in the county's water distribution: "That water that they pump up there feeds, I think, it's over a thousand fire hydrants," he said (estimate). Losing that facility to fire, he said, would threaten both firefighting capacity and community water supply.

Project scope and mapping: McGreevey described using geographic information systems (GIS) to combine historic fire records, structure locations and topography to draw polygons for where fuel breaks will go. He said the team has already treated roughly "8 or 9,000 acres" of fuel breaks and plans — at full buildout — for about 15,000 acres, primarily on ridges along the North Fork Stanislaus Canyon and McCauley (McColome) Hill areas.

Key sites and partners: McGreevey highlighted Hunter Reservoir, Davies Ranch and the Dowd's area (part of the rim system from Murphy's to the park) as components of a continuous fuel‑break system intended to protect communities such as Arnold, Avery, Forest Meadows and Camp Connell. He named partners and funding sources including the Calaveras County Water District (CCWD), regional utility districts, the U.S. Forest Service, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Cal Fire and FEMA. He explained that CCWD or other agencies commonly act as fiscal agents to receive grants and pay contractors.

Watershed and infrastructure work: Kelly Gherkinsmeyer described recent CCWD investments to reduce infrastructure vulnerability, including replacement of eight redwood tanks with glass‑lined steel tanks as a hazard‑mitigation project, and one remaining redwood tank slated for replacement. She emphasized that protecting the watershed also reduces strain on water supplies during and after wildfire. "These projects not only are good for the watershed, but they also protect the community and then protect the infrastructure that is our community," Gherkinsmeyer said.

Maintenance and costs: McGreevey identified maintenance as a major challenge. He said treatment effectiveness typically lasts between five and 10 years and that long‑term maintenance requires ongoing funding and coordination across landowners. He estimated contractor costs at roughly $1,000 per acre and, as an example, said that at that rate treating 1,000 acres a year would cost about $1.5 million annually (his estimate). McGreevey stressed that maintenance would need to continue indefinitely to preserve the fuel breaks' protective function.

Community engagement and next steps: Both guests urged household‑level preparedness and neighborhood coordination through the Firewise USA program. McGreevey noted that West Point has applied for Firewise recognition and that more communities along Highway 26 lack Firewise organization. The program host reminded listeners of a countywide Firewise event scheduled for Nov. 1 at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp.

Sources and limits: The article reports statements made on the radio program by McGreevey and Gherkinsmeyer. Where participants used approximations (for acreage, hydrant counts or cost), those figures are presented as the speakers' estimates. No formal decisions or votes were recorded in the program.

The work described combines mapping, grant funding and cross‑jurisdictional agreements to create and maintain a network of fuel breaks that project speakers said is intended to reduce wildfire risk and protect local water infrastructure.