Photo Friday - Rattlesnake Season

Summer is nearly here. Warm temperatures bring out the rodents and all sorts of critters who feed on them, including rattlesnakes.

In California alone, there are seven types of rattlesnakes. Please be careful when you’re hiking in and around Sunol. 

Photo courtesy of Pat Jones, SFPUC Watershed Keeper

Here are some tips to stay safe and avoid coming face to face with our reptilian friend, courtesy of  California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) website:

· Be alert.
· Wear sturdy boots and loose-fitting long pants.
· When hiking, stick to well-used trails.
· Do not step or put your hands under logs or in burrows where you cannot see.
· Do not handle any snake. Call the experts if you need it removed.
· Leash your dog when hiking in snake country.

Remember that rattlesnakes aren't usually aggressive, but they can be provoked if they feel threatened. And when out enjoying nature, you are in their home after all. 

Stay safe out there and see you around the Valley!

Photo Friday: Beyond the New Calaveras Dam

Happy Photo Friday!

Here are some beautiful aerial photos of the New Calaveras Dam and Calaveras Reservoir.  Photos are courtesy of SkyHawk Photography.  

Here is a stunning photo of the Calaveras Reservoir from the south looking north towards the New Calaveras Dam. Calaveras Reservoir helps supply drinking water to 2.7 million Bay Area residents. 

Workers completed the road that leads to the dam.

















We couldn't resist adding a picture of the new intake tower.  
  

The seismically robust New Calaveras Dam is in full operation. It can now hold its historic storage capacity of 96,850 acre feet of water (31 billion gallons).  

The dam was completed in May 2019. The team is finishing up a few minor items at the Dam, but the majority of construction activities are now complete. 

See you around the valley! 

Getting Ready for Fire Season

  

A passerby would have assumed that a huge emergency must have been unfolding at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) new Sunol Yard on May 30^th.  No less than five separate fire department units were on scene, sharing space with Alameda and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s vehicles, California Highway Patrol, and even the East Bay Regional Park District’s Police helicopter. 

Thankfully, this was merely the East Bay First Responder Liaison Lunch hosted by the SFPUC’s Natural Resources and Lands Management Division each year. More than 70 representatives from all swaths of local law enforcement kindly set aside two hours of their time for coordination and planning for fire season.

 CalFire’s Mike Marcucci (Deputy Chief – State Operations), discusses fire department resource planning.

The SFPUC owns 35,000 acres of watershed lands in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties. Managed by Natural Resources and Lands Management staff, these lands house water infrastructure that is crucial to the drinking water supply of our 2.7 million customers, including two drinking water reservoirs, pump stations, pipelines, and tunnels. These lands have been protected from development as drinking water sources, which also makes them vulnerable to trespass, criminal activity, and fire.

Alameda County Sheriff Ahern, Cal Fire’s Mike Marcucci, and SFPUC's Neal Fujita discuss the specific roles played by first responders and SFPUC during a fire.

It is important that our staff meet these first responding agencies before an emergency. Thus, the Liaison Lunches were born. Over home-made tri-tip and salad, first responders meet SFPUC staff and become familiar with the watershed and the location of entry roads and gates. The goal: to plan for the inevitable eventuality of a fire on or near our watershed.

“Whatever the scale, we will have emergencies again this year on the watersheds – but we’re better prepared because of the hard work to prepare for these gatherings.” said Tim Ramirez, Director of the Natural Resources and Lands Management Division.

We would like to thank our First Responders for being such tremendous partners in keeping our watershed lands and our communities safe. Thank you for your service!

Alameda County Fire Department

Alameda County Sherriff’s Office

Cal Fire

California Department of Fish and Game

California Highway Patrol

East Bay Regional Park District

Fremont Fire Department

Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department

Santa Clara County Fire Department

Santa Clara County Sherriff’s office

Spring Valley Fire Department

Be Safe Out there! See you around the Valley!

A Family Connection to the Old Calaveras Dam

We at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project were extremely honored to host a very special guest, Geneva Barrett (Hunt). She was accompanied by her daughter, Debbie and her son-in-law, Randy  of Dublin, California.

Geneva has a special connection to the old Calaveras Dam. Her father, Frank Hunt, worked on the second Calaveras Dam (the first dam slumped under its own weight in 1918). The second Calaveras Dam was built between 1918 and 1925. Frank Hunt was a civil engineer on the project and operated a drag line.  Geneva was born in Sunol in 1927.


Randy and Debbie with Geneva Barrett (Hunt) on far right.




The late Frank Hunt circa 1920's.

After the dam's completion, her father relocated the family to Oregon where he continued to work on dams in and around the the state. Geneva recalls her dad as being very dedicated to his profession and to his family. During those times, her father worked all week at his designated job site and came home during the weekends only. She was one of twelve kids.



Frank and Maude Hunt with their first four children in Sunol.


Geneva told us that seeing the old dam was on her bucket list. We were so pleased to meet her and her family.

See you around the Valley!

Photo Friday: Dedication Celebration

On Friday, May 3, 2019 we were delighted to celebrate the completion of the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project, and dedicate the New Calaveras Dam. Over 300 people joined us on top of the new dam to celebrate this momentous occasion. In attendance were community members as well as industry leaders, and folks that took an active role in the construction of the dam.



A view of the celebration from the left abutment.




Dan Wade, Director of Water Capital Programs thanks team members for their work.




We were honored to formally dedicate the New Calaveras Dam with a plaque. 
Left to right:
Sharon Tapia from DSOD, Dan Wade, Lakeisha Bryant from Congressman Ro Khanna's office, Chad Mathes from Dragados, Harlan L. Kelly Jr. SFPUC General Manager, Commission Vice President Francesca Vietor, Commissioner Tim Paulson, Matt Bedinger from Senator Kamala Harris' Office, Commissioner Anson Moran, BAWSCA Board Chair Barbara Pierce, and Rob Stoker from the Alameda County Building and Trades Council. 




We were honored that Assemblymember Kansen Chu spoke at the event. 
From left to right: Lakeisha Bryant, Tim Paulson, Rob Stoker, Assemblymember Chu, Matt Bedinger, Emily Lam, Director of Legislative Affairs for the SFPUC.



The New Calaveras Dam

It was a joyous and wonderful occasion. See you around the Valley!

Moth Photo Friday

Happy Photo Friday from the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project!

Today we we'd like to draw attention to a special visitor to our trailers. Meet the Hyalophora euryalus moth.  We found this beauty on the doorstep of our trailers.  Lucky for us, our SFPUC photographer, Robin, was onsite to capture these photos.

The Hyalophora euryalus moth is a very large red-brown moth with pale lines and long crescent-shaped hindwing discalspots. This fellow has a broad home range spanning from British Columbia all the way to Baja Mexico. The adults don't eat. But their caterpillars, do, and enjoy a wide range of plants as hosts. 

It somehow found it's way to the Calaveras Dam and we were glad that it stopped by. 

See you around the Valley! 

Fish Passage Facilities Project Reaches a Big Milestone

The team working on the Fish Passage Facilities in the Alameda Creek Watershed Project had reason to celebrate this last week.

The goal of the project is to support the restoration of Steelhead trout to the watershed by providing safe passage around the Alameda Creek Diversion Dam.

Last week the project reached substantial completion. The fish ladder is in full operation and now allows fish to bypass the dam.   So, in honor of all their hard work, the team celebrated with a good old fashioned barbecue.

The team celebrating this accomplishment.

Members of the Watershed Division, Brian Sak and Scott Chenue helped move the project forward and will be managing parts of the project once it's completed. 

The Fish Passage Project even made the news. In case you missed the coverage:

KCBS Radio

KPIX Television 

Thank you to our team and our partners for helping move this project forward.

See you around the Valley!

Join Us at the Wildflower Festival April 14th!

The flowers are blooming all over Sunol Valley and the East Bay. That's right, it's time for the Wildflower Festival at the Sunol Regional Wilderness.

Hosted by the East Bay Regional Park District, the Wildflower Festival features:

• Guided hikes for all ability levels
• Activity stations
• Educational Booths
• Free Make and Take Crafts
• Live Music
• And so much more!

Sunday, April 14, 2019, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Sunol Regional Wilderness, 1895 Geary Road, Sunol

Overflow parking available along Calaveras Road.

For more information, check out the East Bay Regional Park District’s website, or call

510-544-3249.

Visit us at the SFPUC booth. Make crafts and test your watershed knowledge for prizes!

 We hope to you there!

Photo Friday: Sunol Long Term Improvements Project

Happy Photo Friday from the Sunol Long Term Improvements Project.

Construction on a new corporation yard, administration building, and shops buildings for the SFPUC Water operations staff in the East Bay began in February of 2017.  

Crews have made quite a lot of progress since then. 

The new administration building.

New shop buildings at the Corporation Yard.

View from inside the new Administration Building.

SFPUC staff have been temporarily housed at the former Sunol Valley Golf Course property. They hope to be able to move into their new digs sometime in late spring. 

See you around the Valley!

Willow Branches Everywhere

Biologist Aaron Sunshine planting Willows

Fully-Grown Arroyo Willow

The recent rains have done wonders for our reservoirs and watersheds. It also happens to be the ideal time for putting plants in the ground for environmental restoration of our Alameda Watershed Lands. 

Of late, our Calaveras Dam Replacement Project biologists have devoted themselves to willows. A total of 36 willows have been planted by the downsteam building of the newly-constructed Replacement Calaveras Dam alongside Calaveras Creek. The types of willows planted were red willows (Salix laevigata), Arroyo Willows (Salix lasiolepis) and Narrowleaf or sandbar willows (Salix exigua). All are native to California and to our watershed. 

There are approximately 400 species of willows worldwide. You don’t have to look far to find them, all you need is a good water source. That’s because willows like their roots to be very wet, and they prefer year-round moisture.

The interesting part of willows is that they are easy to propagate. An entire willow tree can grow from a single branch.

The best time of the year to cut and plant is during the winter, preferably in January. Our Calaveras Dam Replacement Project biologists harvested branches from willows within the watershed and planted them along Calaveras Creek as part of the project's restoration plan.

The willows will be monitored annually for the next five years to ensure that they are growing and thriving. 

Once fully grown, our willow trees will provide good nesting for songbirds such a as the Woodwarblers, Song Sparrows, and the California Towhees. The new trees and will also be a good foraging habitat and cover from predators for many species too.

See you around the valley!





Fully-grown narrow-leaf willow.

Photo Friday - Let it snow!

Calaveras Reservoir view from S. Calaveras Road

Snow is a a rarity among these parts of California.  This week the mountains and the valleys in Sunol were covered in it.  Here are some photos shared by our intrepid Watershed Keepers.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Woolen 

Taking a minute to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Woolen

Our grazing tenants (cows) do their work against the rare backdrop of a snow-capped mountain.

Stay warm out there, and see you around the Valley!

Photo Friday - Newts!

Happy Photo Friday from the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project!

Even though the Replacement Calaveras Dam has reached its full height, our crews are still busy out there. And whenever our crews are working, so are our biologists. They are always on the lookout for critters who might have wandered onto the site.

Our intrepid team found this fellow recently climbing the wall of the dam’s spillway.

This is a California newt. Excellent climbers and land dwellers, these California natives are active during the day. They dine on small invertebrates like earthworms, snails, slugs, and crickets. They have few natural predators because they produce a potent neurotoxin in their skin (the same as pufferfish).  This is dangerous only if you eat them, however (predators take note).

Our biologists think this fellow was traveling to or from a body of water for breeding. The team placed it out of harm’s way in moist grass nearby, where he continued on his journey.

Lucky for us they had their camera handy.

Have a great weekend, and see you around the Valley!

Calaveras Road Reopens January 3, 2019

We are pleased to inform you that Calaveras Road between Geary Road and Felter Road will reopen to all traffic, weekdays, weekends, and holidays starting Thursday, January 3, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. 

Please note construction trucks and large vehicles will still be using the road, so please drive and ride with caution.

Background:

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), owner and operator of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, is completing construction of a new dam to replace the former 93-year-old Dam at Calaveras Reservoir in the Sunol Valley.

Restoring Calaveras Reservoir is one of the most important projects of the $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program. Calaveras Reservoir is the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System’s largest Bay Area reservoir when it is full. Restoring its historic levels is crucial for water supply to 2.7 million people in the Bay Area in times of drought and emergencies. Construction on the earth and rock fill dam began in 2011.  Construction is scheduled to be complete in spring 2019.

Contacts:

Email onunez@sfwater.org or blauppe@sfwater.org

For more information, visit sfwater.org/calaverasroad

We thank you for your patience!

Happy Holidays from the SFPUC

We hope you are having a joyful and restful holiday season!

It doesn't snow very often in the Alameda Watershed, so we had to go way back into the photo archives to find this one from the Calaveras Dam construction site, dated January 9, 1913. The site was so remote at the time that onsite camps housed construction workers.

Calaveras Dam was constructed three times in total. 

• The first dam, started in 1913 and completed in 1918 collapsed under its own weight because of the dam construction method builders used.
• The second dam, which served us for over 90 years, was completed in 1925. 
• The third replacement Calaveras Dam reached its full height in September 2018.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

See you around the Valley!

Calaveras Dam - The Real 'Shark Tank'

Crews constructing the SFPUC’s new Calaveras Dam in the East Bay uncovered a geologic layer that happened to contain thousands of fossils. Through a cooperative agreement with the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP; Berkeley, CA), those fossils are now being cleaned, analyzed, and catalogued.

“We transferred all of the fossil specimens to UCMP this year,” said JT Mates-Muchin, the SFPUC’s Environmental Compliance Manager who helped broker the agreement. “Fossils are a non-renewable resource. It is important that they are carefully catalogued and preserved for scientific research.”  

 A Megalodon Shark Tooth Being Scanned in the Lab.

The lead researcher and lab manager at UCMP, Cristina Robins, and her team are beginning to tease information out of the fossils.   Fifteen million years ago, the site of Calaveras Reservoir was located at the mouth of a vast inland sea that stretched into the Central Valley.  Just like in the seas of today, there was a lot of plant and animal life throughout. When they died, they left a fossil record.

This included sharks, lots of sharks. More than 2,000 shark teeth have been found from 35 species. These include many from requiem and mako sharks. Some teeth from the 35-foot megalodon shark have turned up as well. What do these shark teeth tell us?

1. The area around Calaveras Dam was once completely submerged by water.
2. The depth of the ocean could have been as deep as 700 to 1,000 meters.
3. The distribution of species is similar to fossil locations as far as way at Gatun, Panama.
4. Calaveras has a higher diversity of sharks than other sites.

At this point the paleontologists have only begun to scratch the surface of the Calaveras fossils, no pun intended.

The teeth from 35 different species of shark have been found at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project.

We look forward to learning more secrets about the Bay Area’s past through these amazing fossils.

Keep up to date on the Calaveras fossils through the UCMPFacebook Page.

A 30 foot long predator left its tooth at Calaveras Dam. The Megaladon tooth is being analyzed at UCMP.

 See you around the Valley!

Photo Friday - Morning Light

Happy Photo Friday

It's been a while since we posted any photos from Pat, one of our Watershed Keepers who helps look after our Alameda Watershed lands.

Recently Pat found himself at San Antonio Reservoir at sunrise and shared the moment with all of us. 

Have a great weekend, and see you around the Valley!

Alameda Whipsnake Sightings Near You

Here in the Sunol Valley we have a special species of snake that lives among us. It’s no other than the Alameda whipsnake or sometimes called the Alameda Striped Racer, (Masticophis lateralis euryxanthus), a subspecies of the California whipsnake (Masticophis lateralis). It has made the coastal scrub, chaparral, and grassland habitats in the hills east of the San Francisco Bay its habitat.

Known for its ability to move fast, the Alameda whipsnake has the following distinct features: broad head, large eyes and a long slender body with a distinct yellow-orange “racing stripe” down each side. Adults can grow to six feet long. They are diurnal which means that they are active mainly during the day. Surprisingly good climbers, these snakes seem to prefer to hunt for lizards, snakes, and frogs. They are not venomous and pose no threat to humans.

All of the workers on SFPUC-related construction projects in the Valley have been trained to be on the look out for these special snakes. If they see one, they stop what they're doing, and contact a trained biologist to rescue them to a safer location.



Here is an up and close picture of one rescued by our field biologist, Aaron.

November is the time of year when they look for a dry, safe burrow to hibernate during the winter. The springtime is when courtship and mating takes place, usually from late-March through mid-June.



Alameda whipsnakes are considered to be both a federally and state threatened species.









See you around the Valley!

Spraying it Green

Most of us don’t give hydroseeding much thought. As it turns out, we at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project do.

Hydroseeding is, in essence, spreading seeds over an area after the ground has been disturbed by things like the construction of a large dam.  It is an important part of restoration and erosion control.  What is cool is the way we plant these seeds.  What we call hydroseeding was invented in the 1950's and involves mixing mulch, seed, and water together to form a slurry and then literally spraying it on the ground. This mixture increases the likelihood of germination of the plants and it holds firm to sloped areas.

One of the best times to hydroseed is the fall, which is why our teams are spending a lot of time hydroseeding now.  Our hydroseed is a mix of native annual and perennial grasses and forbs that grow quickly and easily from seed. The restoration goals for the project include establishing native plant communities. The vegetation provides habitat for threatened species and helps improve water quality.

Here is a beautiful picture of the recent hydroseeding of Borrow Area B (BAB). The green color is not green grass but a natural dye used so the contractor can track locations where they applied the hydroseed. The color will eventually disappear until the vegetation begins to grow. 






And, here is a picture of the newly hyroseeded dam. You can see the hydroseeder (truck) spraying the hydroseed onto the dam's face.  The thick lines are straw wattles used to prevent erosion on the slope.

Here is a closer picture of one of our workers spraying the hydroseed onto a steep slope.

Now we just need a nice winter's rain to help the hydroseed grow. 

See you around the Valley!

Love Your Local Stilling Basin

We have written a great deal about the spillway at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project. Completed in 2016, this spillway is the width of a six lane freeway, and the height of a three-story building. The spillway's job is to protect Calaveras Dam by allowing water from Calaveras Reservoir to flow safely around, and away from, the dam in extreme high water events.

We have neglected to highlight an important component of a spillway - the stilling basin. Today, we'd like to generate a little love for stilling basins.  

A stilling basin is a structure that dissipates the energy of the water rushing down the spillway. Without a stilling basin, water coming out of the spillway could scour out the foundation of the dam, the base of the spillway, and nearby creek beds. In short, the stilling basin is a sort of bodyguard for the dam.

Stilling basins come in a variety of types, but generally fall into two categories: a straight drop for lower elevations, or an inclined chute. The stilling basin at the new Calaveras Dam is an example of the latter category. To be specific, it is a United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Type II stilling basin.  Our stilling basin is approximately 200 feet long, 45 feet high and 80 feet wide.    

Water flowing down the new spillway of the new Calaveras Dam will drop 200 feet in elevation before it reaches the stilling basin at the bottom.The stilling basin creates a hydraulic jump to slow down the high velocity water before it slowly, and safely, discharges into Calaveras Creek.

A view of the new stilling basin at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project

So, let's hear it for the humble stilling basin!

See you around the Valley! 

Loma Prieta Earthquake Anniversary Week - The New Irvington Tunnel

Happy Friday

This week marks the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. 

We've been blogging about the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's efforts to seismically upgrade our water system for many years now. The $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program is more than 96% complete as of this writing. The water system that supplies water to 2.7 million customers in four Bay Area counties is much more earthquake ready today than it was 5 years ago. 

In honor of the Loma Prieta Anniversary week, we wanted to remember a post from October of 2013 when a crucial seismic project for the Water System Improvement Program achieved a huge milestone. Final hole through. 

Miners worked long hours in the New Irvington Tunnel .

The New Irvington Tunnel Project ,which went into service in February 2015, is a new 3.5 mile long seismically designed tunnel. We mined the tunnel from different directions, and the moment the two teams met underground to complete the digging is called Final Hole Through.

See the October 2013 Story here.

One of the three road headers that excavated the New Irvington Tunnel.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

See you around the Valley!