UPCOMING EVENTS July 11: Friday 5 PM SLCWD Water district offices The June SLCWD board meeting. EMAIL NOTIFICATION For a monthly update email of events relating to the proposed development, send an email to updates@saveserenelakes.org with your name and email address. Your email address will be kept private and will only be used for updates about Serene Lakes and the Royal Gorge Development. To insure privacy, emails will be sent to individual addresses, not to an address list or list of CC's. An archive of past email updates can be found on the "articles" page. HOW TO HELP:
First:
Send Placer County a letter voicing your concerns and requesting notification of all actions and meetings related to the proposed development. Write your own letter, or use SLPOA's sample letter, and send it in as soon as possible. Royal Gorge LLC is expected to begin the formal permit process in the immediate future.
Second: Voice your concerns to elected officials. The Save Donner Summit website has a list of politicians and agencies to contact. See: www.savedonnersummit.org/people.php
Third: Keep informed and involved. Attend the water district board meetings (see upcoming events). Look at www.savethesummit.com for commentary by KTG and www.savedonnersummit.org for information, maps, a forum and more. Return to www.saveserenelakes.org often for the latest news, news releases, editorials and status.
Fourth: Many other groups are working to protect Donner Summit. Go to the SOS (Save Our Summit) website at www.saveoursummit.org for a list of these organizations and links to their websites. POSTERS, FLYERS AND MORE Please use these to let people know about the threat faced by Donner Summit. More Flyers..... WHO WE ARE: This website is maintained by SaveSereneLakes.org. We may be contacted by sending an email to publicity@saveserenelakes.org. Please send us any suggestions, articles or other information concerning Serene Lakes or Donner Summit. WHERE WE ARE: Serene Lakes is located on Donner Summit, just off of I-80 near the town of Soda Springs, CA. map RE-USE POLICY You may copy, reprint, publish, reproduce, or otherwise display materials (excluding materials that contributors or others have copyrights on—check with sources) on this website on the condition that you attribute those materials to www.saveserenelakes.org and provide a link to our website.
LATEST NEWS: (Complete News Timeline....) June 26: The Placer County Planning Department has sent a letter to Royal Gorge stating that a second access road will be required in their plans, mentioning the safety of existing and new residents. The letter is here: Second_Access_Road.pdf This requirement is consistent with the fire safety bill (AB2447) being considered by the state legislature.
June 25: The fire safety bill (AB2447) was amended by the Senate Local Government Committee and sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill should be up for vote this summer. Please call your local State Senator to voice your support for the bill! See Fire Safety Bill AB2447 for the latest version of the bill.
June 24: A fire safety bill dealing with new development in fire hazard areas is in the California State Senate Local Government Committee after being passed by the state assembly. A simple call to your legislators may help this overdue legislation pass. For more information see: Please help
June 17: Mountain Area Preservation Foundation (MAPF) set up a series of "social" dinner meetings between Royal Gorge and various groups including SLPOA, Sierra Watch, Sierra Club and SYRCL. The objective of the meetings, other than helping Royal Gorge claim that they are interacting with the community, is unclear. For a take on the meetings see: FOSTER AND SYME "SOCIALS", HOT WEATHER, AND FLIP-FLOPS
June 15: A useful guidebook to California's "show me the water" laws and how they apply to potential developments has been published by the California Water Impact Network. A copy of the guidebook is on the SaveSereneLakes.org Documents page as: Show me the water guidebook. It's useful in understanding the responsibilities of SLCWD in managing our water supply, and planning for the future, given the pressures of drought and proposed development. Another useful document is a publication from the California Department of Water Resources regarding wells in fractured rock aquifers such as those proposed to be used by Royal Gorge. The document (Water Facts) states that fractured rock wells are very unpredictable and their yields can decline drastically during dry years.
June 13: At Friday's waterboard meeting, Mike Livak of Royal Gorge tried to prove that last December's testing of SLCWD wells was sufficient to establish their use as a water supply. The water board disagreed, saying that longer tests are required.
June 12: The Nevada County Grand Jury completed an investigation of the Donner Summit Public Utilities District (DSPUD). A summary of their findings can be found here: THE NEVADA COUNTY GRAND JURY AND DSPUD.
More News.... LATEST ARTICLES: (All Articles....) Bill Requiring Subdivisions Be Built With Fire Safety Planning Faces Key Vote Tomorrow-- Will Development and Greed Kill Common Sense in California? (CaliforniaProgressReport.com, June 24) Read more...
ROYAL GORGE AT ODDS WITH GRAND JURY (The Union, June 14) A planned 950-unit development surrounding Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort continues to face skeptics, but its owners are forging ahead with their plans. The concerns about the project range from treating wastewater to changing the quiet tenor of rural life. Read more...
NOTE TO ROYAL GORGE: QUIT HOGGING THE WATER! (The Union, May 11) In spring, when small seasonal waterfalls are bubbling down into the South Yuba River, it's hard to imagine a water shortage, least of all for the area around Big Bend and the old Rainbow Lodge. There, cabins, and the lodge nestle snugly in rocky areas around the river, some cabins so close to the water that residents could seemingly fish from their kitchen windows. Read More...
WATER RIGHTS AND WATER WRONGS IN THE SIERRA NEVADA (CaliforniaProgressReport.com, April 25) Water law in the state of California can best be described as one of those incredibly complex multiple level chess games, with varying and not necessarily consistent rules for each level. In the crazy California water game different norms control, depending on whether ground water, riparian rights, appropriative rights, or prescriptive rights are Read More.... More Articles....
-More than twice as many as in Sugar Bowl, Northstar and Squaw combined! -More than doubles the residences in Serene Lakes from 800 to 1800
Ski Lifts, lodge, and 650 units immediately east of the lakes
-More than 40,000 trees removed -Hillsides stripped for ski runs -The main Serene Lakes watershed is paved over -The lakes are filled by silt from erosion -Nights are polluted by noise and lights from trail grooming operations
Two artificial lakes, a lodge and more housing north-west of the lakes
-Where the current Royal Gorge Headquarters is on Pahatsi Road -Granite glacial land is blasted for new lakes -Cross country trails are replaced by roads and buildings
2,375 additional residents
-Estimate provided by the Placer County Sheriffs Department -Traffic will more than double, especially on Soda Springs Road -No new roads to provide emergency exits, a real fire hazard
Increases the water demand on Serene Lakes from 115 acre-feet per year (AFY) to 615 or more AFY
-The water level of the lakes will drop 4 to 5 feet every year -The channel between the lakes will become impassable -The shoreline will recede by 20 feet, and in some places 50 to 100 feet -The docks, including Ice Lake Lodge's will be high and dry -Over 30% of the lakes area will dry up
Requires doubling the capacity of the sewage treatment plant
-More treated sewage water dumped into the South Yuba River -Requires new sewage pumping stations in Serene Lakes -Pumping failures will dump sewage directly into Serene Lakes
