EC Residents Attend EBMUD Impact Meeting Seeking Info

EBMUD held a public meeting June 26th at El Cerrito High School concerning the new Wildcat Aqueduct and Central Pressure Zone Pipeline projects.  This was the last meeting of the mandatory 45-day public review period initiated by the publication of the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in May. The period for public review of the draft ends on July 2, 2013. To allow time for the publication of the EIR in its final form, additional responses and questions will be accepted by regular mail and email only up until that date.  Information that responds to public comments from previous public meetings is included already in the draft EIR. A PDF copy of the draft EIR was available at the meeting.

Michelle Blackwell, EBMUD’s Community Affairs Representative, was on hand to introduce Project Manager Timothy McGowan, civil engineer, who led the presentation describing the project. El Cerrito Mayor Greg Lyman was in attendance, as were about a dozen members of the public. EBMUD is conducting an EIR on four planned pipeline improvements that will affect the cities of El Cerrito, Berkeley, San Pablo, and Richmond.  McGowan focused the presentation on the section of the Wildcat Pipeline that will connect existing pipelines from Central Avenue in El Cerrito to Nevin Avenue in Richmond.  

The longest stretch of the preferred route of the Wildcat Pipeline in El Cerrito is along Richmond Street. Audience members were invited to express their concerns about the project’s possible negative impact to residents who live along the planned construction route. The questions last night concerned landscaping in the area of right-of-way between the sidewalk and the curb, specifically whether that area will be used for storage by the contractors. McGowan responded that work is planned to occur only between the two curbs of the street. The sidewalk, he added, might be closed at times for safety reasons. Also, there was a question about the disruption of water service to residents who live along the proposed construction zone. McGowan said that the new pipeline would not connect to existing residential service, so its construction should not affect residents’ water service. These new pipeline installations are being undertaken to transport more water to reservoirs and tanks in the system that originated for a level of use that existed before that of the area’s current population density.

An EIR allows for these public work projects to get input and response in the planning stages from the inhabitants potentially affected by the construction. The Wildcat pipeline project is not even scheduled to go into design until 2014. Actual construction is scheduled for 2015.  The companion EBMUD pipeline project also being subjected to the current EIR is less critical and doesn’t begin design until 2019.  This parallel project, the new Central Pressure Zone Pipeline, is to be installed under San Pablo Avenue. 

# # # # Andrea Dace, June 27, 2013