The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is holding meetings on the Peninsula this week to discuss proposed upgrades to the water pipelines that carry water from the Sierra, across San Francisco Bay, and through East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, North Fair Oaks and Redwood City.
Outreach meetings to inform neighbors about planned seismic improvements to the trans-Bay water pipeline system will be held:
• Wednesday, March 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the East Palo Alto Senior Center at 600 Bell St. in East Palo Alto.
• Thursday, March 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center, Redwood Room, at 1455 Madison Ave. in Redwood City.
Plans are being prepared to add a fifth pipeline to the two Bay Division pipelines that run along the existing right-of-way from East Palo Alto to Crystal Springs Lake. The project would put the pipes in a five-mile tunnel under Sand Francisco Bay and adjacent marshlands between Newark and East Palo Alto.
The Bay pipeline project is part of the $4.3 billion water system improvement program to strengthen the aging Hetch Hetchy system that provides water for 2.4 million people in four Bay Area counties.
Bay pipelines 1 and 2 were built in 1925 and 1936 respectively; they are close to three earthquake faults, and could fail in an earthquake.
Construction of the pipeline upgrade, expected to start in 2009, will harden the pipelines to resist earthquakes. The new fifth pipeline will be equipped with valves to allow for maintenance, isolate ruptures, and protect nearby residents, according the SFPUC.
INFORMATION
For information, call the SFPUC at 800571-6610; e-mail baydivision@sfwater.org; or go to sfwater.org.
