At just eight years old, Andy was set free into the woods. To be clear he wasn’t abandoned. This was the early 1980s and kids were given immense freedom to explore the outdoors on their own accord. Spared from the fears of parents today, the brown-haired boy with dust coated jeans and a t-shirt would navigate the Tahoe National Forest with his younger brother and cousins. Their mission: explore the unknown and catch as many crawdads as possible.
As he got older, he graduated to catching Trout with his brother, Rob, and his father, Joe, with the three of them seeking out the best fishing spots along the Mokelumne, Stanislaus and American rivers. It was in those early adventures that Andy grew quite fond of the towering pines and bending shorelines of the valley rivers. It was a love that would remain with him when it came time to choose a career.
While attending the University of California – Davis, Andy studied natural resources and engineering, providing him with a foundation in fish biology and water delivery systems. Quite useful for someone who joined the Placer County Water Agency a few years later. Hired on originally to help with a hydro-electric power project and Sites Reservoir, Andy says a job in water resource management was much simpler back then.
“It was basically a plumbing job. All about getting water to people who needed it,” says Andy Fecko, General Manager of PCWA.
Much like the hikes he took as a boy, the journey would not follow a straight path forward. Soon, there were bends and curves that many did not see coming, Andy not only began navigating these new challenges, he has embraced them.
PCWA’s watershed begins at 8,000 feet, with water storage sites hovering around 5,000 feet and many of its customers in agriculture and cities located on Placer County’s valley floor which stands at or below sea level.
“For more than 50 years the challenge was to keep up with demand, but catastrophic wildfire in 2014 changed everything for us.”
The King Fire burned 97,000 acres in the El Dorado National Forest – leaving a devasting and torched landscape in its wake. Burning into the famed Rubicon area, PCWA’s water sources were impacted. Hydropower couldn’t run with debris blocking and clogging creeks and streams. The water treatment plant couldn’t even properly filter the water for human consumption and was sent out to the ocean.
“We had fires before, but this made us wake up to a new reality. We had a choice, either continue to let disasters happen to us, or adapt to create a better future for our water supply.”
To the PCWA Board’s credit, they chose to take aggressive measures to mitigate future risks. Something they had never been ask to do in the history of the agency. This meant tackling forest health head on. Andy and his staff got to work on what is known as the French Meadows Forest Restoration Project. The first private-public partnership aimed at thinning the forest in order to prevent major wildfires continuously devastating our environment.
“A healthier forest means better habitat for wildlife, improves the tree’s resistance to drought and diseases and improves the watershed for all species who rely on it for survival.”
The work PCWA has already done got the attention of the White House in July of 2022, as Andy is now a member of the newly-established Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. The group is designed to recommend ways federal agencies can better prevent, mitigate, suppress and manage wildland fires, while also aide in policies and strategies on how to restore the lands already affected by wildfire.
Forest health isn’t the only area of conservation on top of Andy’s mind. He knows those fishing trips he took with his family would not be possible without a vital river system.
The PCWA is tackling habitat and migration issues below and above Folsom Dam. The agency has partnered with other water resource managers in order to help migrating salmon reach their destination though the construction of fish screens and newly-adopted water release schedules.
“We are uncovering ways to better manage the flow of colder water to mimic the natural cycles many of the fish and wildlife were once accustomed to. It may cost a little more, but in the long run we believe it is the right thing to do.”
And it isn’t just fish.
“By timing the flow releases, we can also help spur growth of natural vegetation along the banks that is vital to the survival of the Foothill Yellow Legged Frog. A species that is nearing the threatened list and is a primary food source for many other important species like garter snakes and toads.”
Andy is looking at all of this today through the scope of the boy who wandered the woods, the teenager that cast his line in the river and to the man who is responsible for creating a functioning water system. His love for the outdoors, his studies in biology and his desire for efficient engineering was once a rare find among water managers, but today, his experience and outlook is almost required.
“We are charged with bringing our ecosystem back into balance. We can and we will find a way to keep farming, provide safe drinking water in our homes and create habitat for our native species. It may not happen overnight, but we are taking steps today that will positively impact the future of California.”
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