April "Save Serene Lakes" update:

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Special:

• A new trail map for the area is available: Serene Lakes Trail Map 
• A Royal Gorge Specific plan map, featured on the IKEA Hacker website, generated world wide attention about the Royal Gorge development plans and a rush on rugs at IKEA.

News: (for a complete news timeline see "news timeline")

• Sugar Bowl announced that their "Letter of Intent" with Royal Gorge is no longer valid and they will not pursue a ski lift connection between the resorts. The announcement came in  "The Union" newspaper. A copy of that announcement can be read here. Royal Gorge says they will revise their plans accordingly.
• The Sierra Lakes County Water District (SLCWD) board unanimously voted, over opposition from Royal Gorge and one of their lawyers, to adopt the Water Priority Ordinance No. 2008-82 and the Lake Level Management Resolution No. 2008-787. The first ordinance requires the district to reserve enough water to satisfy the undeveloped lots within Serene Lakes (who have been paying standby charges and bond repayment charges for 30 years), before determining if there is enough water for future subdivisions such as the proposed Royal Gorge development. Royal Gorge wanted a first-come, first-served, policy. The second resolution sets the water level target for lowering the lakes level at no more than 3 feet below the dam, similar to the historical low of 2.8 feet. This allows the district to determine how much water will be available for future users. Royal Gorge thinks that the resolution, even though it does not change anything, requires an expensive Environmental Impact Revue (EIR) process, paid for by SLCWD. For a description of the effects of lowering the lake to four feet, as requested last May by Royal Gorge, see "Serene Lakes Trail Map."
• A sewage transport and treatment presentation was given at the SLCWD water board meeting by Royal Gorge's consultants. Besides the cost ($40M) of expanding the DSPUD waste treatment plant, the primary concerns are the disposal of the treated wastewater. The three options are dumping down the South Yuba River, surface spraying on two Royal Gorge parcels (one directly north of Lake Camp and one directly over Alan's pass north-east of Ski Camp), or sub-surface irrigation (leach fields) on the parcel north of Lake Camp. Note that significant health and water quality approvals must be obtained and studies are required to determine if leach fields work in the shallow bedrock soil, before any of these options can be pursued. Note that surface sprayed areas must be kept off-limits to human contact. 
• Information packets have been received from the USFS indicating that the staging area for the Tahoe-Sierra 100 Ultra endurance 100 mile mountain bike race has been moved from Royal Gorge to the French Meadows area. Public concerns about parking, camping and crowd control addressed to the County have prompted the move to French Meadows where there is camping and facilities to host the event. The USFS will be examining the potential impacts of the race over the next few weeks before issuing a permit.
• Sierra Watch sends a letter, signed by nine conservation groups, to Nevada County and Placer County Supervisors urging them to support planning principles designed to safeguard the Donner Summit region. Read more in the report published on YubaNet.com: Sierra Conservationists unite to defend Donner Summit. 
• Royal Gorge must move the high voltage transmission towers that pass through Lake Camp. A PG&E spokesman reports that RG has asked that the lines be buried underground, or if that isn't possible, to have the towers and lines moved out of the way. PG&E has agreed to study, at RG's expense, whether burying the lines or moving the lines is even feasible (reliability and maintenance are of concern) and how much the options will cost. RG has not returned the study contract, so the study has not been done. A ball park estimate was given of $3,000 per foot for a typical undergrounding job, but there are too many variables, such as trenching through volcanic tuff and granite, to give a reliable number. At $3,000/ft, the 1.0 to 1.5 mile undergrounding job would cost $16M to $24M! Read Royal Gorge LLC's Power Play for more information. 

Upcoming Events:

• May 9, 5PM, SLCWD Board meeting at the district offices.

Recent Publications: (for links to these and other publications see "articles")

• The following articles were published on the web, in the Sierra Sun, YubaNet or The Union: 

Conservation groups present Donner Summit planning principles 

(Sierra Sun, April 10)

Is Royal Gorge LLC Building A House Of Cards On Donner Summit?

(YubaNet.com April 4 2008, CaliforniaProgressReport.com April 5) 

Sugar Bowl cools on Royal Gorge lift plan

(Sierra Sun March 31)

• The April issue of the Donner Summit Clarion is available now.

Current Placer County Status:

• Placer County reports that they have not heard anything from Royal Gorge LLC since early March. There is no date scheduled for submitting project plans.

Quotes of the month:

"The battle we have fought, and are still fighting, for the forests is a part of the eternal conflict between right and wrong... So we must count on watching and striving for these trees, and should always be glad to find anything so surely good and noble to strive for." -John Muir

“Our position is we think development is needed for the vitality of the Summit, but it needs to be sound, well-planned development.” -Rob Kautz, CEO of Sugar Bowl

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not any man's greed" -Mahatma Gandhi

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it is attached to the rest of the world." -John Muir

Web Sites of Interest:

www.SaveOurSummit.org

www.sierrawatch.org

www.syrcl.org

www.saveserenelakes.org

www.saveVanNordenMeadow.org

www.savethesummit.com

www.savedonnersummit.org

www.saveroyalgorge.org

www.pissdsociety.com

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