By Assemblyman Anthony Pescetti

March 15, 2001

With the flood of concern rising over California's energy challenges, attention is once again focused on one of Sacramento Region's oldest debates: the Auburn Dam.

The Auburn Dam was proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers to increase water storage, generate electricity and provide much needed flood protection to the Sacramento region. Construction on the dam site began in 1967, and all of the foundation work including canyon excavation, the American River Diversion Tunnel, and a highway bridge, was completed by 1979. However, due to growing opposition over the dam's location, the Federal Government removed the appropriation of the dam the same year, halting construction on the concrete structure.

Even though the Auburn Dam was never completed, the debate over its construction continues today.

Last year with the encouragement of Congressman John Doolittle, the Auburn Dam Council was re-energized. The Council consists of former engineers and public officials that were originally involved in the advocacy and construction of the Auburn Dam. The Auburn Dam Council has been meeting to discuss how to gain the support and appropriations necessary to make the construction of Auburn Dam possible despite opposition to the project. With these challenges in place, I assumed the Chair of the Auburn Dam Council.

Building the Auburn Dam makes sense. A full-scale Auburn Dam project will be able to generate more than 650 Megawatts of electricity. The increased generation added to the power grid will also provide an excess power source in times when California reserves are depleted. This will greatly reduce our dependence on high cost, and often unreliable out-of-state power suppliers to bail us out of our generation problems. In turn, we will be able to sell the excess power generated by the dam in times of surplus.

The power generated by the dam will stabilize prices and provide reliable supply that will help ensure the future prosperity of the Golden State.

Building the Auburn Dam is also vital to securing the long-term flood protection needs of the Central Valley. Presently, Sacramento is one of the most flood-prone metropolitan areas in the United States. The Auburn Dam will change this, as it will give the Sacramento Region a minimum of 200-year flood protection, preventing the disastrous flooding and costly damage that the region is prone to experiencing under the current 100-year flood assessment. The dam will have the capability of stopping torrential flows of water down the American River, thus reducing the stress placed on Folsom Lake and the region's levee system during the worst of storms.

The reservoir behind the dam will be capable of storing over 2 Million Acre Feet of water, enough to supply the consumptive needs of the Central Valley well into the 21st Century. The size of the reservoir will provide enough water storage to prevent cutbacks and rationing during the worst of droughts, saving farmers, businesses and residents from potential disasters stemming from a major water shortage.

The Auburn Dam Reservoir will provide more reliable water flows for the American River and the Sacramento Delta in times of shortage or drought. With water in the reservoir during shortage years available for use in the Central Valley and to send to the Delta, water supplies in the southern portion of the state would not be jeopardized during drought years as they are today. With more water in the Delta on a continual basis, fish and wildlife will no longer be threatened by tides carrying harmful saltwater from the San Francisco Bay in drought years when freshwater supplies are depleted. The reliable water source of the reservoir will help restore the Delta ecosystem to a more natural state.

The reservoir will provide a limitless recreational opportunity for Northern California residents. With the state's rapidly growing population, current recreational facilities are reaching their capacity. The Auburn Dam Reservoir will provide thousands of acres of watersports, hiking, wildlife viewing and other activities within the current Auburn State Recreation Area. The reservoir will provide another economic boost to the already booming Sacramento Region, as well as serving as a drawing card attracting tourism to the region.

The Auburn Dam Council is advocating the funding of the dam by issuing state revenue bonds in a proposal that will be placed on the ballot. We will work with Congressman John Doolittle, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, to secure federal flood control and generation funding for the project. Eventually, the project will pay for itself with revenues collected from electrical generation and water allocations.

The time to build the Auburn Dam has come. The benefits that the dam will provide Californians greatly outweigh the potential economic and natural disasters the region faces if the dam is not built. We must learn from the utility crisis that the worst action is inaction. It is best to plan ahead now to guarantee California's economic prosperity and energy reliability into the foreseeable future. The Auburn Dam will help make that possible.