Menlo Park looks at options for underground water storage Menlo Park looks at options for underground water storage (June 28, 2000)

By Alan Sissenwein

Almanac Staff Writer

Hoping to stave off a potential disaster, Menlo Park officials are planning to build an extra underground reservoir that would help provide one day's emergency water supply for the entire city.

Water from the reservoir would be used if service from the city's primary water supply, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, is disrupted -- a scenario that might occur in the event of an earthquake, said Menlo Park Public Works Director Morrie Barr.

The city now has two reservoirs in the Sand Hill Road area. No water storage tanks exist in the city's eastern half, which is entirely dependent on Hetch Hetchy.

Three sites are being considered for the reservoir. One option would place a 6.5-million-gallon reservoir in Burgess Park, near the Civic Center, for a cost of about $10.8 million. Another alternative would locate a 6.5-million-gallon reservoir near U.S. 101 and Bay Road for roughly $10.4 million. The third option would entail constructing a 3.3-million-gallon reservoir at Sand Hill Road for $8.5 million, and its pipeline would stretch into east Meno Park.

According to Mr. Barr, the third option allows for a lesser amount of water storage because the 3.3-million-gallon reservoir could act as a single unit with the city's existing reservoirs. While the construction price is less than it is for the other options, Mr. Barr pointed out that the site is owned by Stanford while the other two sites are owned by the city.

The city has $5.5 million put aside for the project, Mr. Barr said.