Updates

Here are a couple of updates on previous posts:

• Stoneridge Drive Bridge Construction

The slope embankment under the new Stoneridge Bridge passed compaction tests last week. Remaining work ongoing. Opening set for November.

• Creek Cleanup

Thank you Tri-Valley Creeks to Bay Clean-up and Monitoring Volunteers! One-hundred and fifty-four clean-up volunteers removed 1,736.5 gallons of trash and 235.6 gallons of recyclables from eight creek spots. Thirty monitoring volunteers from Altamont Creek Elementary, and Livermore and Granada High Schools assessed creek health at Alameda Creek Park and Robertson Park.Here are some of my photos:

Zone 7 Kicks Off the Living Arroyos Program

Living Arroyos was initiated in July 2013 as a partnership of the City of Livermore, Urban Creeks Council, and Zone 7 Water Agency. The goal of the partnership is to restore and enhance urban stream and riparian (streamside) habitats while continuing to protect drinking water supplies and maintaining current levels of flood protection. And since people, especially children, need contact with nature in order to be happy and healthy, Living Arroyos seeks to re-integrate the region’s streams and its human communities so that residents of the rapidly urbanizing Tri-Valley area can have opportunities to experience real, functioning nature near at hand.

Join us for our program kickoff planting party and BBQ. Volunteers will be planting acorns along Arroyo Mocho in Livermore. Saturday, October 19, 2013 from 9am-12pm. There will be a free BBQ lunch for registered volunteers. To register or find out more about the program, please visit http://livingarroyos.org/.

Urban Creeks Council serves as the managing partner of the program. Community members and Apprentices are the backbone of the labor force that carries out the work of restoration and ongoing habitat management. Program activities will focus on the more than 45 miles of streams controlled by Zone 7 and the City of Livermore as seen in the map below.

Pool/Spa/Fountain Maintenance Tip Sheet

Fall's in the air, and it's time to prepare pools and spas for the end of the season. Check out Alameda County Clean Water Program's new Pool Maintenance Tip Sheet for best practices on pool cleaning, waste water disposal and more! Click here for the tip sheet.

Stoneridge Drive Extension/Bridge Construction Update

As many of you know, construction is underway on the Stoneridge Drive Extension in Pleasanton which includes building a bridge over the Arroyo Mocho.  There is an expected opening date of sometime this fall. I was able to take a tour last week of the bridge construction.

Zone 7 Water Agency owns and maintains 37 miles of local flood-protection channels, about a third of all the Valley's channels and creeks, including the Arroyo Mocho. Zone 7's flood control facilities are integrated into many programs. During storm events, the channels carry flood waters out of the Valley, protecting life and property. During dry periods, the arroyos are used for groundwater recharge, placing high-quality water in the underground reservoir for storage until the community needs it during droughts. The arroyos are also used as riparian habitat. Many of these channels also have maintenance roads that, through Agency agreements with the cities, have been opened up for recreational trail use. To ensure that its flood-protection channels are ready for the next big storm event, Zone 7 conducts routine maintenance such as inspections, embankment and drain structure repairs, vegetation management, silt removal and pest control.  

As part of their construction plan, the City of Pleasanton requested an easement over the Arroyo Mocho from Zone 7 to construct and maintain the bridge structure.  The Zone 7 Board voted on 3/21/12 in favor of granting the easement.  Zone 7 wanted to ensure that they had continued access to the channel to continue flood control activities.

Zone 7’s primary interest is the bank, the access road, and the underlying channel. Zone 7 has a construction inspector who monitors construction activities along the channel and access roads. The developer submits compaction test results to Zone 7 to confirm compliance with specifications. Bridge and channel work were delayed this week as slopes failed compaction tests. 

The area currently not passing the compaction tests is the south bank slope underneath the bridge. In addition to re-compacting this slope, the contractor also needs to complete erosion control measures before October 15th.

Zone 7 staff will continue to monitor construction and quality assurance testing. I will keep you posted. 

 

Some of my photos from the tour:

 

Standing on north bank looking at construction under the bridge



Standing on north bank looking south

Standing on north bank looking at construction under the bridge

Standing on the bridge looking west

Spotted an egret, standing on south bank, west of the bridge, looking towards north bank

Standing on sidewalk just before bridge looking north/east

standing on south bank, east of the bridge looking north

Standing on the bridge looking east

 

Tri-Valley Creeks to Bay Clean-Up

Tri-Valley Creeks to Bay Clean-Up is Saturday, September 14! This event is part of Coastal Cleanup Day, a statewide and international effort to clean trash and debris from beaches, bays, creeks, rivers, and lakes.

One-hundred and ninety-two volunteers collected 1,037 pounds of trash and 288 pounds of recyclables from six Livermore sites on Tri-Valley Creeks to Bay last year. 

Due to limited space, please pre-register. It's easy - just choose one of the cleanup sites, and contact the Site Coordinator to sign up and obtain the required waiver form(s). Bring the signed and completed waiver form(s) with you to the event.

Cleanup Sites:
1. Arroyo Mocho at Robertson Park - Site Coordinator, Patti Cole at (925) 960-2400
2. Arroyo Las Positas at Northfront Road (near Northfront Trailhead Park) - Site Coordinator, Lynna Allen at (925) 960-8143
3. Altamont Creek and Arroyo Las Positas at Bluebell Drive (near Springtown Golf Course) - Site Coordinator, Lynna Allen at (925) 960-8143
4. Arroyo Las Positas at Heather Lane (near Springtown Golf Course) - Site Coordinator, Lynna Allen at (925) 960-8143

Note: Volunteers under 18 years of age must have the waiver forms signed by a parent or guardian. Volunteers under 13 years of age must be accompanied and supervised by an adult, and may not volunteer at the Robertson Park site.

For more details, visit www.trivalleycreeks.org/events/creeks-to-bay-cleanup or contact Lynna Allen at (925) 960-8143.

Alamo Creek Trail- Temporary Closure Notice

Zone 7 Water Agency will close a stretch of the Alamo Creek Trail in Dublin from September 3-10, excluding the weekend, so that crews can conduct maintenance work along the flood control channel.

The trail closure will take place between Dublin Boulevard north to the Iron Horse Trail at the confluence of Alamo Creek and San Ramon Creek. The closure is meant as a safety precaution both for trail users and for work crews using heavy equipment on the channel's maintenance road.

To minimize disruption to regular trail users, the trail will be made available to the public on Saturday and Sunday, September 7 and 8.

Zone 7 owns and maintains 37 miles of flood control channels in its service area, including the cities of Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton. Zone 7's flood control facilities are integrated into many programs. During storm events, the channels carry flood waters out of the Valley, protecting life and property. During dry periods, the arroyos are used for groundwater recharge, placing high-quality water in the underground reservoir for storage until the community needs it during droughts. The arroyos are also used as riparian habitat. Many of these channels also have maintenance roads that, through Agency agreements with the cities, have been opened up for recreational trail use.

Zone 7 Awarded Local Groundwater Assistance Grant

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has awarded more than $4.7 million in grants to 26 public agencies from the Local Groundwater Assistance Program. Grant funding is provided by Proposition 84, the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006.

The program helps local agencies perform groundwater studies, monitoring, and management activities. Funded projects include installation of monitoring wells, groundwater recharge investigations, data gathering and development or update of groundwater models, preparation of groundwater management plans, and other programs to assist local agencies in managing groundwater in California.

The objective of Zone 7's proposed project is to upgrade and improve Zone 7's groundwater model of the Livermore Valley Groundwater Basin for use in evaluating groundwater and salt management strategies and alternatives, as well as for the development of specific project plans that involve groundwater supplies, aquifer storage, and constituent transport. The DWR grant was in the amount of $200,000, 80% of the project's total cost.

Zone 7 is currently updating its Salt and Nutrient Management Plan to meet requirements of the State Water Resources Control Board's Recycled Water Policy, and to include local land and water development plans. The use of a reliable groundwater model would be helpful in predicting the effects of these future plans, and to further develop Zone 7's ongoing and future salt management strategies.