The New
Year has brought much needed rainfall to the Sunol Valley. Despite the winter
weather, our teams are continuing the important work to seismically upgrade the
facilities that deliver drinking water to 2.6 million Bay Area customers. These
projects are part of the $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program (WSIP).
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is the owner and operator
of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System. In addition, other work, such as
work on the Alameda Creek Watershed Center and upgrades to our Sunol Yard, are
also underway this year.
Calaveras
Dam Replacement Project
Work is still underway to replace the existing dam with a seismically-robust dam in order to restore its historic storage capacity. Rebuilding this dam and filling the reservoir is crucial to the reliable water supply of our customers. Over seven million cubic yards of earth and rock materials have been excavated. We have started to construct the new dam. Crews have constructed a new tower and shaft with five adits which connect outlet pipelines to the reservoir. The new 1550 ft spillway was completed in April 2016. The dam and all the outlet works have been designed to withstand the force of a 7.25 magnitude maximum credible earthquake from the nearby Calaveras Fault. The project is over 78% complete.
Due to recent storm impacts,
portions of Calaveras Road remains closed to the public on 7 days a week.
Please visit sfwater.org/Calaverasroad for more specific details regarding the
closure.
Fish
Passage Facilities within the Alameda Creek Watershed
Construction for the Fish Passage
Facilities within the Alameda Creek Watershed began earlier in 2016. The
Calaveras Reservoir collects water from Alameda Creek by means of the Alameda
Creek Diversion Dam (ACDD), a 1.8-mile-long Alameda Creek Diversion Tunnel from
other streams that flow directly into the Reservoir.
The project will improve the
current facility and develop fish passage facilities within the Alameda Creek
Watershed. This important work will support restoration of steelhead trout to
the Watershed. The project will construct a fish ladder to facilitate fish
passage around the existing Alameda Creek Diversion Dam. The project is approximately 30% complete and
project completion is expected in Fall 2018.
Alameda
Creek Recapture Project
The proposed project would
recapture a certain volume of water that would be released and bypassed at
Calaveras Dam and Alameda Creek Diversion Dam. The recaptured water would be
pumped from an existing quarry pit (Pit F2) in the Sunol Valley, downstream of
the compliance points for the bypasses and releases below the ACDD and
Calaveras Dam, respectively.
The project would utilize the
natural infiltration of water into the ground in the vicinity of Pit F2, and
the recaptured water would be transferred to the SFPUC water system via either
the San Antonio Reservoir or the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant. The
recapture operation would be conducted within the SFPUC’s existing pre-1914
appropriative water rights.
The Draft Environmental Impact Report was released
in November 2016. Construction is expected to begin in Fall 2017 and last for
approximately 18 months.
Sunol Yard
& Alameda Creek Watershed Center
Construction of upgrades to our Sunol Corporation
Yard (located on SFPUC lands near the Sunol Water Temple) are expected to begin
in February 2017 and last approximately 22 months.
Please note that the Sunol Water Temple will be
closed during construction to protect the safety of members of the public
passing through the area. The Sunol AgPark will remain open to farmers during
construction.
Alameda Creek Watershed Center in Sunol and work on the Education Master Plan for
the Center continues in 2017. The Center
design continues to undergo value engineering, and results are expected in
early 2017. Construction of the Native Plant Nursery for the plants that
will be in the new Sunol Yard and Watershed Discovery Trail at the Center will
also begin in 2017.
