Let's put hyperbole aside and look at the real issues of building the Auburn Dam

Cliff?s Edge by Dennis CliffordEnjoying writing as I do, I love to watch figures of speech and the people who use them. It is amazing how many people communicate in figures of speech. While most everyone enjoys a good metaphor or simile, I believe the most used and overworked is hyperbole. Hyperbole is simply defined as ?gross overstatement.? It means to be the weapon of choice for many special interest groups.Special interest groups by my definition are any individual or organization that seeks to sway my thinking or attract my vote. I personally am a member of many special interest groups that justify my personal beliefs and interests. I am a Christian, a member of the Nature Conservancy, The National Wildlife Federation, the National Rifle Association, the local Foresthill Historical Society to name just a few.I also am the charter president, and sole member, I might add, of the DCPB&RIS. That is the Dennis Clifford Personal Bias and Reserved Interest Society. I believe that everyone should want and desire the things I do. If you don?t agree with my position, you are a ?radical, self serving, narrow minded, obstructionist, and a general all around not good guy.? Therefore you should form your own special interest group.When I moved my family to Auburn almost 30 years ago, I told my kids we would be fishing, boating, swimming and generally appreciating the beautiful natural benefits of Auburn Lake in a few years. I believed that the Auburn Dam would be built and utilized for water, power and recreation. This was in 1974 and the cost of the dam was in the hundreds of millions.For well over 40 years we have been involved with a myriad of special interest groups all claiming to represent the people who live in the area and those affected by construction of the dam. Millions of taxpayer dollars were spent in purchasing land, preparing for the dam site, and getting ready for construction. Then the harbingers of doom appeared, a few native born residents with a proliferation of ?transplants? discovered that Auburn was subject to certain natural phenomena in its creation. An ?earthquake fault? was discovered. Hyperbole became a language unto itself as experts did what experts usually do. They offered expert testimony.When I was in law school, we were told by our law professors that experts were ?money in the bank? for us. They said there is an ?expert witness? that will testify to any legal proposition that can be devised. All we had to do was locate the expert and of course pay his fee. As for the cost of the dam, $3 billion dollars, we can hold the anti-dam forces responsible for the escalation of the cost. If the dam had been built when proposed, it would have cost much less. As for saving taxpayers money, does anyone think that if we do not spend the money in Auburn, California that the feds are going to save that money? I believe they will find a way to spend it somewhere else in another state.Then there are the people who are running around saying that we will flood ?50 miles? of the canyon. Now are they saying the Auburn Dam will have 50 miles of total shoreline or are they saying that the dam will reach up the American River canyon for 50 miles?Others say we will lose a million recreational visitors if we make a ?mud hole? out of the canyon. Is that really what proponents are seeking to do ? build a mud hole, or is this a better definition of hyperbole than I came up with? How many million recreational users will a full lake attract?If they build the dam in my lifetime, I will use and enjoy it. If we don?t build the dam, I will enjoy living in Foresthill until God calls me home. Let us take the issue to voters and let them decide what should happen. Then we can allow the real special interest groups to fight it out in the ring of the public forum.Whatever the outcome let?s move to close the issue and move on to better uses of our talents.Dennis Clifford?s community column appears in the Journal on Tuesday. He can be reached at cliffsedge@foothill.net