SUPER SEASON
Shining bright
Placerville Speedway announces 2022 race schedule.
El Dorado County’s homeowners deck the halls and then some.
Sports, A7
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
th
Volume 170 • Issue 152 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, December 24, 2021
Water conserved; flume repairs advance for EID
Happy s y a d i l o H
Michael Raffety Democrat correspondent El Dorado Irrigation District water customers saved 6% since June 28 when the Stage 1 water supply alert was made, while recycled water customers saved 10% over the same period compared to 2020. Year-over-year conservation increased in October when customer water conservation hit 24% and in November it rose to 31%, although those are typically lower water-use months. With the 22-mile El Dorado canal and flume system shut down because of three flumes burned by the Caldor Fire, EID has 8,000 acre-feet more storage in its alpine reservoirs than it normally would. After the canal is restored the district will transfer 10,000 acre-feet of water through a tunnel connecting the canal with Jenkinson Lake. New concrete canals for Flume 30, 5 and 6 are not expected to be completed before mid-January. The goal had been mid-December, but removing hazardous materials, plus a severe rain event in late October, set things back. As of Dec. 14 there were 30 inches of snow at one construction site, according to EID Engineering Manager Brian Mueller. Flume 4 was only partially burned, so the district hydro staff was able to rebuild it and reline the wooden flume. Staff replaced conduit and wiring. District staff also repaired 16 feet of Flume 2A and a damaged section of concrete Flume 10, where a tree fell on it. Additional staff work included removing debris from two sections of canal and rebuilding two gauging sites for the El Dorado Canal and Alder Creek Syblon Reid will connect the concrete flume sections to Flume 4 when those are complete. n
Christmas trees light up Highway 50 through downtown Placerville, shining bright to bring delight and welcome folks home for the holidays. The trees, donated by local Christmas tree growers, are each adopted and decorated by the community. It’s a tradition 50 years strong. Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the staff of the Mountain Democrat.
Mountain Democrat photos by Krysten Kellum
See EID, page A9
Invasive plants targeted in big project at Lake Tahoe Tahoe Daily Tribune SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Two of agencies are teaming up to begin the largest invasive plant removal project at Lake Tahoe, officials announced last week. The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, in partnership with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, are planning to remove 17 acres of invasive plants in the Taylor and Tallac PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
creeks and marshes as part of a comprehensive restoration of one of the last natural wetlands in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Left unchecked, aquatic invasive plants can have devastating effects on Tahoe’s ecosystem and recreational resources. “Invasive plant eradication projects have typically been measured in single acres,” states Sarah Muskopf, aquatic biologist with the Forest Service in a press release. “Using new technologies, including larger mats, reduces the cost of implementation and allows us to meet restoration objectives more efficiently.” Crews are staking large tarps known as bottom barriers to the bottom of the Tallac Marsh and hope to have all the tarps in place by early 2022. Bottom barriers starve invasive weeds such as Eurasian watermilfoil of sunlight and are commonly used in the Tahoe Basin to control infestations. “Wetlands improve our region’s natural resiliency in the face of climate
Photo courtesy of the Tahoe Fund
Installation of bottom barriers is under way at Taylor and Tallac marshes as part of a large-scale aquatic invasive plant removal project at Lake Tahoe. Taylor Creek flows over tarps staked down to to the bottom of the creekbed surrounding marsh to starve invasive plants of sunlight.
change by filtering runoff and other pollutants,” said Kat McIntyre, forest health program manager with TRPA. “The restoration of these marshes pays dividends in keeping the lake clear and improving wildlife habitat.” This project falls under the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program), an n
U.S. Forest Service photo by Lisa Herron
See invasive , page A9
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