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Ione council directs staff to negotiate AWA easement after contentious public debate
Summary
After a multi-hour public hearing, the Ione City Council authorized staff to negotiate an easement with the Amador Water Agency to divert AWA backwash off city ponds, but members declined a separate motion to immediately execute the easement. Residents were split over potential rate impacts and tangible benefits to the city.
The Ione City Council on Feb. 3 directed city staff and the city attorney to negotiate an easement with the Amador Water Agency (AWA) that would re-route AWA’s backwash and sludge off Ione’s wastewater ponds and onto a private processor. The council’s direction requires staff to return with a negotiated agreement for council review rather than authorizing immediate execution.
The easement proposal, presented by AWA operations representatives, would run a buried pipeline from AWA’s treatment facilities through Howard Park and under highways to reach a private site where US Mine would accept the backwash and sludge. An AWA representative said the project is 100% designed and that environmental documents are complete; the agency has spent roughly $800,000 to date on design and environmental work. The AWA presenter described the backwash as a concentrated wastewater containing aluminum and said diverting that stream would reduce pressure on Ione’s ponds…
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