El Dorado County Group Claims Irrigation District Chose Green Lawns Over Fish And Wildlife
EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) — They call themselves Defenders of Deer Creek, and the group is taking the water district to task for letting the creek run dry.
The group claims the El Dorado Irrigation District chose green lawns and a lush golf course over the lives of fish and wildlife.
From a lush landscape to bone dry, the sight of Deer Creek makes Kathy Motz fighting mad.
"It took 40 years to build this creek riparian habitat and they killed it off in one day," she said.
The creek is supplied by recycled water released from an El Dorado Irrigation District treatment facility. For a second-straight year, the state gave EID permission to dramatically drop those releases.
Now, the environmental group Defenders of Deer Creek says this is the result.
"We're wondering what's going on, because a dry creek, I don't think, is very protective of fish especially," Lisa Couper said.
They claim wildlife was sacrificed so the water could instead be used to keep the lawns and golf course green in an upscale El Dorado Hills neighborhood.
CBS13 featured the benefits of the Serrano subdivision's recycled water system in July. The developer said at the time that if they didn't use the water—in his words—the water district dumps is down the creek.
A spokesman with the water district says the reduced water releases are for the public good, saying the state-approved plan frees up 180,000 gallons per day in its water recycling system. That "reduces our need to supplement the recycled water system with potable water and benefits the wider Sacramento region by reducing water withdrawals from Folsom Lake."
Back along Deer Creek, Motz worries the water and wildlife will never come back.
"There's just no excuse for it," she said.
The district says extensive water monitoring is being done and says last year's reduced flows were proven protective of fish and wildlife in the creek under drought conditions.