Big Water Pipes Coming to El Cerrito (Also Torn-Up Streets)

Never let it be said that the folks who make water come out of our taps didn't give us advance warning about their upcoming big project in town.

The bad news is that East Bay MUD (Municipal Utility District) plans to dig up practically all of two main thoroughfares in El Cerrito — San Pablo Avenue and Richmond Street. The reason is to add two big steel water pipes, each 36 inches in diameter.

The good news is that the work won't begin until 2015 on Richmond Street and not until 2021 on San Pablo. Also, they'll do only one block at a time. And, possibly the best news is the project is designed to assure that water keeps coming out of our taps as the East Bay population continues to grow.

"What this project is meant to do is to add capacity," Timothy McGowan, an associate civil engineer for East Bay MUD, said in a presentation about the plan to the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.

"We've seen a lot more demand on our system," McGowan said.

He acknowledged that he encounters dubious listeners when he says the agency currently has "deficiencies."

"When I say that, people say, 'What do you mean? My water always turns on. How can we have deficiencies?'"

"Well, we're not a third-world country," McGowan told the audience of 15 people at the chamber luncheon at the . "We don't wait until you don't have water at your house to start fixing the system."

As shown on the attached map, the pipeline that would be buried under Richmond Street would also be placed under portions of several other streets in a zig-zag pattern with several right-angle turns. From San Carlos Avenue, it would go down Lynn Avenue to Ashbury Avenue and make a right for a short distance before turning left on C Street to Behrens Street. Making a right on Behrens, it would go to Fairmount Avenune and turn left for a very short trip before a right on Norvell Street to Lincoln, where it would go left to Richmond and then right all the way to Hill Street, near the del Norte BART station.

The San Pablo Avenue line is a straight shot all the way from Central Avenue to Nevin Avenue.

The pipelines will link up with other, existing underground aqueducts that run under parts of El Cerrito.

The two new pipes in El Cerrito are part of a larger "West of Hills Nothern Pipelines Project," which as the name implies will include new pipelines in the northern East Bay west of the East Bay hills. That larger project is part of an even larger "West of Hills" upgrade that includes new pipes further south.

The Northern project will build 8.5 miles of pipelines in Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond and San Pablo, with a decade of construction beginning in 2015. They are part of the system that serves East Bay communities from Oakland to Crockett.

Following completion of an alignment study, expected next month, the agency will begin preparation for an Environmental Impact Report, McGowan said. The agency also plans to hold several community meetings to discuss the pipelines.

In answer to a question about the impact on local businesses, McGowan reiterated that only one block at a time would be affected and that traffic would still be able to travel, in a more constricted route, on that block on San Pablo because the street is wide enough to accommodate both the construction and traffic. On smaller streets, traffic would have to be rerouted around whatever block was under construction, he said.

In answer to other questions, McGowan said the East Bay MUD water processing plant just south of the is idled and is kept on reserve in case of a disruption in water from the Orinda plant, which supplies the water that comes to El Cerrito. He also said the Berryman Reservoir at Spruce Street and Grizzly Peak Boulevard in North Berkeley is being replaced by a considerably smaller storage tank at the same location.

Also at the meeting was East Bay MUD Community Affairs Representative Michelle Blackwell, who said she can answer questions from the public: mblackwe@ebmud, (510) 287-2053.

At the same luncheon, the Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 75th anniversary with a sheet cake decorated for the occasion.