Providing Water for Our Sunol Neighbors

Sunol Glen School and its 250 kindergarten through eighth-grade students form the heart of the Town of Sunol Community.So it was with much excitement that members of the community joined local Alameda County Supervisors at the school to officially break in the school’s new track with the school’s largest fundraiser – the Walk-a-thon.

With several large Water System Improvement Projects currently under construction just a few miles away from the town, the Sunol Regional Outreach team is always looking for ways to be involved with the community. This was the perfect opportunity, especially since the SFPUC is the local water provider for the school.

Our very own Justin Lyman and Dean Tolosa from the Water Supply and Treatment Division were kind enough to spend a few hours in the hot sun in October to provide much needed hydration to the walkers.

The event happens every year in October, and students have earned more than $350,000 for their school since the Walk-a-thon started 20 years ago. We look forward to being part of this Sunol Glen School tradition for years to come!

 

Justin and Dean from Water Supply and Treatment doled out more than 80 gallons of water to students and teachers alike in less than two hours.

 

The walkers, school staff and Eagle school mascot were all extremely grateful for the cool Hetch Hetchy water!

Ready for the Rain

The rainy season is here! While we welcome the rain we also have to prepare for it.  Why? If left unchecked, rain water will travel through constructions sites (that uncover large amounts of dirt for their work) and pickup dirt and small rocks and anything else that is on the ground surface along the way.  The runoff then goes into storm drains and flows into the local water system causing harm to the Bay.

At the New Irvington Tunnel Project, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission uses a series of Best Management Practices (BMPs) to minimize the effects of storm water runoff.  Our prevention methods include:

Erosion Control: Planting vegetation is an effective way to stabilize the soil by reducing exposure to erosion.  Stabilization prevents soil particles from detaching and becoming transported in storm water runoff. 

 Erosion control measures in place at the Vargas Shaft

Earth Dikes & Drainage Swales:  Earth dikes are temporary berms of compacted soil and drainage swales with shallow slopped channels. These easily installed measures divert storm water runoff away from soil that is prone to erosion and into controlled areas.

This drainage swale channels storm water away from erosion sensitive areas

Sediment Basins: Control areas such as gravel basins trap and collect sediment from storm water runoff before it enters our local water systems.

A gravel basin at the Irvington Portal

The SFPUC and our contractor, Southland Tutor Perini Joint Venture, work together to make sure stormwater runoff does not make its way into the local water system.  As a team we keep a constant eye to ensure the appropriate measures are in place and are effective.