Why the Auburn Dam is Vital

Dear Friends,

The Auburn Dam is vital to California’s future for three simple reasons:

Dam provides water storage capacity that will support the rising water needs of of our exploding population.

Building the Auburn Dam is vital to securing the long-term flood protection needs of Sacramento and Yolo counties.

Power generated by the dam will provide a reliable supply of power. This power will be available for "peaking purposes" to meet the high summer load requirements.

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. The time to build the Auburn Dam is now! Support California’s continued economic prosperity and the safety of our citizens by helping us in our mission to complete the construction of the Auburn Dam.

California Water Crises

“Today, in some areas of the West, existing water supplies are, or will be, inadequate to meet the water demands of people, cities, farms, and the environment even under normal water supply conditions.” -- Water 2025: Preventing Crises and Conflict in the West

The population growth of California is inevitable and the benefitting five county areas are parallel to that of the State. With a current state population of 36 million, growing at half a million per year, it is anticipated that by the year 2010, the population will equal 40 million and by the year 2020 upwards of 50 milllion people. These future increases will impace both the private and public infrastructures. It is estimated the population increases will require about 200,000 housing units per year. A new or supplemental water supply will be needed for the housing and other associated requirements.

In a presentation titled “ Water 2025 - Preventing Crises and Conflict in the West” sponsored in 2003 by Secretary of the Interior, Gale A. Norton, a map showing the potential water supply crises by 2025 prominently labeled the Sacramento region as “highly likely” area for water crisis and conflict.

Sacramento Flood Risk

“Californians may potentially endure more winter floods and summer droughts over the next century” -- Lawrence Berkeley National Laborary & National Weather service

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. According to the Sacramento Flood Control Agency (SAFCA), Sacramento's risk of flooding is the greatest of any major city in the country for two major reasons:

The cores of today’s levees are often the levees built by farmers and settlers as much as 150 years ago. Early levees were not constructed to current engineering standards, and little care was given to the suitability of foundation soils. These remnants of the past make today’s levees unreliable.
The quantity of water flowing out of the Sierra Nevada mountains during large floods appears to be increasing. The average annual flows on the American River, below Folsom Dam is approximately 2.7 million acre feet. This is nearly three times the capacity of Folsom Reservoir. This annual flow amount requires careful operations at the folsom Dam especially during the winder flood periods.

Sacramento Flood Management Alternatives

Non-structural approaches including upstream washlands, flood plain expansion, development control, early warning systems are all valid techniques for reducing the risk of flood damage. In the light of our aging levees, the continuing encroachment of our flood plains by development, and phenomenal growth of the Sacramento Valley, we strongly believe that none of the measures structural and non-structural methods proposed will go far enough to protect the lives of our citizens in the case of a severe flood. We need the Auburn Dam to add muscle to our Sacramento flood management program as well as mitigate the projected water shortages.

Weighing In

As you are formulating your position on the Auburn Dam, we recommend that you review the resources we've compiled for you.

Read the arguments presented by the opponents to the Auburn Dam and decide for yourself if their arguments make sense to you and if they make you and your loved ones feel more secure about the effects of future floods and droughts.

Water is the lifeblood of the California economy and key to the high quality of life we Californian’s have taken for granted. Water policy has increasingly influenced by state and federal regulators and special interest groups who can’t seem to come to an agreement on how to protect our citizen’s lives, property, and California’s future.

Auburn Dam Council asks for your support in developing an infrastructure that will sustain and provide for the water and safety needs of our growing economy and residential population.

Anthony Pescetti, Former Assemblyman
President - Auburn Dam Council