Spring Wildflower Festival Draws Crowds to Sunol Regional Wilderness

This past weekend, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) joined an estimated 1,000 attendees at the 2017 Spring Wildflower Festival, hosted by the East Bay Regional Park District.

The beautiful sunshine, wildflower blooms, nature hikes, and live music drew families from all over the Bay Area to Sunol Regional Wilderness. Over 300 kids stopped at the SFPUC resource booth to create their very own personal paw print necklaces while staff shared information to residents about our Sunol Valley projects underway including the Sunol Yard upgrade, construction of the Fish Passage Facilities Project within Alameda Creek Watershed and the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project.

We hope that you were able to experience this awesome event and enjoy the wildflower season as much as our staff did. See you around Sunol Valley!

Join Us at the 2017 Sunol Wildflower Festival

It is wildflower season in the Sunol Valley! Come enjoy the wonderful blooming flowers at the annual Sunol Wildflower Festival hosted by our friends at the East Bay Regional Park District.

When:  Sunday, April 9, 2017 from 11am to 4pm
Where: Sunol Regional Wilderness, 1895 Geary Road, Sunol, CA
Cost:    Free admission ($5 parking)

The festival is a fun family day out.  Learn about watershed animals, wildflowers, and grasslands. Enjoy the beauties of spring in one of the East Bay Regional Park District’s crown jewels at the Sunol Regional Wilderness.

We at the SFPUC are looking forward to it. Stop by and visit us at our booth. Get the latest and greatest information on all of our ongoing projects. Flaunt your Alameda Creek Watershed knowledge and win a prize! Fun crafts for the kids. 

We hope you see you on April 9th where the wildflowers grow!


For more information about the festival, visit ebparks.org.

Photo Friday: Bobcats on Calaveras Road

Here is a recent photo taken by our Watershed Keeper Pat in Sunol Valley. It was a reminder about the amazing wildlife out here in the Alameda Creek watershed and to keep a look out for them on the roads.

Just a reminder that due to storm damage, Calaveras Road remains CLOSED to all types of thru traffic 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, between Geary Road and Oakridge Road near the Alameda/Santa Clara County line.

Under normal conditions and the construction schedule, Calaveras Road would be open to thru traffic on weekends and holidays. However, at this time the road will remain closed every day to all traffic until further notice.

The entrance to East Bay Regional Park District's Sunol Regional Wilderness will be open at all times from the north.

Visit www.sfwater.org/calaverasroad for more details and for a map of the closure.

Holiday Construction Schedule and Calaveras Road Closure for Sunol Valley

Happy Holidays, Sunol Valley!

Here’s a schedule of where we’ll be working over the holiday season.

Calaveras Road Closure Holiday Schedule:

The portion of Calaveras Road Currently Closed to the public on weekdays will be:

• Thursday, December 22, 2016 at 8:00 PM through Monday, December 26, 2016   OPEN to the public 
• Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at 4:00 a.m. through  Friday, December 30, 2016:  CLOSED
• Saturday, December 31, 2016 at 5:00 AM through Monday, January 2, 2017: OPEN to the public
• Tuesday, January 3, 2017 at 4:00 a.m. – Friday, January 6, 2017: CLOSED

Prior to the road opening to the public, the road will be swept of debris.

Weekday closures will continue as planned Monday- Friday through December 31, 2017

Fish Passage Facilities Project within the Alameda Creek
Located in Sunol Regional Wilderness:

The project team will NOT be working:

December 24, 2016  to December 26, 2016

December 31, 2016 to January 2, 2017

As always please don’t hesitate to contact us at 866-973-1476, or mle@sfwater.org or blauppe@sfwater.org with any questions.

Sunol Valley Construction Updates for the Thanksgiving Weekend

The wild turkeys are out and about at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project. For the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday weekend, we wanted to share with you some reminders for our projects:

Calaveras Road Users:

The closed portion of Calaveras Road will be OPEN to the public this Thanksgiving Holiday on November 24, 2016 and the day after Thanksgiving on November 25, 2016. The road will be closed again on Sunday, November 27, 2016 at 11:00 p.m.

Please see more details by visiting www.sfwater.org/calaverasroad

Thank you for your ongoing patience during our road closure.

Calaveras Dam Replacement Project

Constructions crews are off on the Thanksgiving  Holiday on November 24, 2016 and the day after Thanksgiving on November 25, 2016. Regular work will resume on November 28th.

Fish Passage Project within Alameda Creek Watershed

Constructions crews are off this week and there will be no construction activity at the Fish Passage project site located in Sunol Regional Wilderness Park. Regular work will resume on November 28th.

From all of the construction teams, we hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Calaveras Dam Project shows Day Campers how to build their own Dam

It was a hot summer day in the Sunol Regional Wilderness Park. But that did not stop our project teams to meet with a group of energetic kids from the Ridge Runners Nature Day Camp. 

Staff met with the young, curious minds to tell them about the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System along with what is happening just around the corner at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project and the Fish Passage Facilities within the Alameda Creek Watershed.

The youth learned about how their drinking water reaches their tap and asked questions about how fish migrate along the fish ladder. The Fish Passage Facilities Project will support the migration of the steelhead trout in Alameda Creek, around the existing Alameda Creek Diversion Dam, when completed in late 2018.

In addition, the kids were able to become hands-on dam builders, designing and constructing their own dams with clay, gravel and sand materials. The soil samples provided will actually be used in the construction of the Calaveras Dam, an earth and rock filled dam, so the campers got to touch the very center of the dam.

Thank you to the Ridge Runners Nature Day Camp for the opportunity to hear about our important projects in the Sunol Valley!

What’s New in Sunol Valley?

If you frequent Sunol Regional Wilderness, you may have noticed increased activity in the park. Our crews are kicking off the Fish Passage Facilities within the Alameda Creek Watershed Project. The Alameda Creek Diversion Dam is located on SFPUC lands adjacent to the Sunol Regional Wilderness Park in Sunol and helps collect water in Calaveras Reservoir through a long tunnel. The project will develop fish passage facilities, including a fish ladder and modified screens for steelhead migration into and out of the Alameda Creek Watershed. Alameda Creek has historically supported an impressive diversity of migratory cold water fish, including steelhead trout. This work will help support the restoration of steelhead trout to the Alameda Creek watershed.  Project completion is expected in late 2018.

What to expect during construction:

• Sunol Regional Wilderness remains open during construction
• Park users should anticipate seeing increased construction traffic from the Geary Road entrance and along Camp Ohlone Road, which is the main construction access road
• Temporary Trail Closures will be needed for large vehicle access and for road improvements. Please use alternative trails to Little Yosemite, such as Canyon View Trail, during these times.
• Please pay attention to construction flaggers and park signage
• Construction activity is expected Monday thru Friday from dusk to dawn

Photo of existing Alameda Creek Diversion Dam Facilities