El Dorado directors to consider water service for new casino

El Dorado Irrigation District directors will weigh legal opinions and public sentiment Monday as they consider whether to supply water for an Indian casino under construction off Highway 50 in Shingle Springs.

Members of the community filled the boardroom and adjoining foyer during an April 28 workshop as the district's legal counsel and engineers reviewed a recent legal opinion and the district's ability to serve the casino without jeopardizing service to existing customers.

County Supervisor Ron Briggs, whose district includes the Shingle Springs Rancheria and the Red Hawk Casino, said he believed the irrigation district board had decided to serve the casino.

"I'm here to ask you not to," Briggs said. "We're working our rear ends off in this county to keep water for current residents."

But Judy Mathat, president of the Shingle Springs-Cameron Park Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber supports business and economic ventures on the rancheria. She asked the district board to consider the request for water service "with no prejudices."

District directors in 2002 denied the request by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians to provide water for a planned casino and hotel on the 160-acre rancheria north of Highway 50 between Shingle Springs Drive and Greenstone Road.

They cited restrictions imposed by the El Dorado Local Agency Formation Commission in 1989, when the rancheria annexed to the district, limiting water service to 40 residences, a community building and garden plots. LAFCO rules on government reorganizations.

But district counsel Tom Cumpston said that a recent opinion by the U.S. Department of the Interior Solicitor General's Office questioning the validity of LAFCO's restrictions had convinced him that the board should reconsider its position.

The solicitor general's opinion indicated that if LAFCO's intent was to regulate use of the tribe's land, a court likely would find that the restrictions would be pre-empted by federal law.

Cumpston cited minutes from LAFCO meetings in 1988, in which commission members expressed concern about development on the rancheria, as evidence that land use was an issue.

Had it not been for LAFCO's restrictions, he said, the district would have evaluated the rancheria's 2002 request for water service as it would have a request for any other project.

Brian Mueller, co-manager of the district's drinking water division, said the district has enough water to serve the casino without jeopardizing service to existing customers.

The additional service the tribe requests is the equivalent of the water required for 216 average dwelling units, or about one-tenth of the water available for sale in the district's Western/Eastern supply area.

District engineer Brian Cooper said the tribe is constructing a 500,000-gallon water storage tank near the freeway and a 3 million-gallon recycled-water storage tank on the hilltop near the casino to supply fire hydrants. The recycled water will be provided by the rancheria's new wastewater treatment plant.

"I don't have to buy your water," tribal chairman Nick Fonseca told the board, but the alternative would involve hauling in up to 25 truckloads a day.

Several people who live near the rancheria said their primary concern was the effect serving the casino would have on water supplies and water pressure in their neighborhoods.

District staff members said current water pressure would be maintained or improved in neighborhoods bordering the rancheria.

Monday's board meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the district boardroom, 2890 Mosquito Road, Placerville.

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