 | | | Map provided by East Bay Municipal Utility District [EBMUD]
| | | | | | The East Bay Municipal Utility District [EBMUD] recently held a community meeting to let residents of the Miner Road neighborhood know about the next phase of construction planned for the Happy Valley Pumping Plant Pipeline. While the inconvenience of last summer's Miner Road closures during phase one of the pipeline project may still be fresh in the minds of neighborhood residents, they have time to recover before Miner Road gets shut down again. Phase two of the pipeline project, which was originally planned to traverse along Lombardy Lane, will travel along Miner Road again but won't start until 2013.
The EBMUD project, which includes a new pumping plant and a new 16-inch pipeline, is aimed at solving the currently inadequate pumping capacity and anticipated future water demands in the area served by the Happy Valley Reservoir, located at the end of Honeywood Road just above Sundown Terrace.
Last summer, 1,400 feet of new pipeline was laid along Miner Road between Oak Arbor and Lombardy Lane. For phase two, the original Environmental Impact Report [EIR] for the project approved the installation of 3,900 feet of new pipeline up Lombardy Lane. However, EBMUD has chosen an alternate route that continues northwest along Miner Road, crosses Lauterwasser Creek, and follows Van Ripper Lane to Lombardy Lane.
According to EBMUD representatives, the new route will require just 3,300 feet of pipeline by connecting with a portion of existing 12-inch pipe that already runs along Miner Road while still adequately supporting anticipated water demands in the area. EBMUD projects this will reduce the cost of the project by approximately $100,000.
Other reasons for the changing the pipeline route from Lombardy Lane to Miner Road include the impact of traffic patterns and underground utility congestion. Three times as many cars drive along Lombardy each day as compared to Miner Road. And, Lombardy Lane has six utility lines under its surface-two water lines, two gas lines, and two sewer lines-as compared to Miner's three utility lines.
Another benefit of the Miner Road alternative, according to EBMUD, will be the replacement of a notoriously leaky backbone pipe that runs along Van Ripper Lane and across most of the section between Van Ripper Lane and Miner Road. The backbone pipe has had a record of numerous leaks in the vicinity of the creek crossing.
A supplemental EIR will be drafted over the summer to address the pipeline route changes and a second public meeting is tentatively scheduled for October of this year. The pumping plant is scheduled for construction in 2014, and the pipeline will be connected after construction is complete. Information on the project can be found at www.ebmud.com, and questions may be directed to Nora Harlow at happy.valley.pipeline@ebmud.com or by calling (510) 287-0140.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA