About Us

The Protect the Historic Amador Waterways (PHAW - pronounced "paw") group formed in May 2001 to protect Amador County's historic waterways. Learn more.

About Amador County's Waterways

  • The Amador Canal, built in the 1870's, stretches 23 miles from Lake Tabeau to Tanner Reservoir
  • Leaks in the canal support a valuable ecosystem of trees, plants and wildlife throughout the watershed
  • Jackson Creek is currently threatened by the dewatering of the Amador Canal

Latest News

August 2008: AWA releases the addendum to the Amador Transmission Pipeline Final Environmental Impact Report and the board will vote on it on August 28, 2008. This addendum's purpose is to provide detail on construction activities for the smaller diameter canal pipeline, and assess any additional environmental impacts related to changes in this project. Addendum

June 2008: The Upper Jackson Creek Watershed Assessment Survey has been designed to gather some basic data from local landowners about their parcels, their resources, and their interests. Details

January 2008: PHAW receives $173,000 grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for water basin study Read more

March 2007: PHAW and Amador Water Agency agree to move forward on Jackson Creek watershed management and conservation program. Read the press release

Other highlights

The Pipeline Project

The large pipeline is complete -- now what will the Amador Water Agency do with the historic Amador Canal?
Read more

The "Growth" Connection

The pipeline project was supposed to provide us with enough water until 2057. Now the Amador Water Agency is stating we will run out of water by 2030. As long as new developments continue to be approved, Amador County will always be facing a water shortage.
Get the details

Preserve Our Local Environment

The watershed has already changed since the pipeline has been in place and the canal flows have been reduced.
Read more