The Goats Are on Board

 

Approximately 500 goats arrived recently at one of our valve lots in Redwood City, where they had ample water and all the summer weeds they could eat after what can be a trying journey by truck and trailer. The enclosed site was soon devoid of any overgrowth there, and the new hands were ready for the next couple of weeks along the Right of Way.

The herd is brought in every year to assist with vegetation management along a stretch of hilly terrain in Redwood City that’s inaccessible to our mowing equipment. They’ll be there for the next week or so.

As in past years, our human crews have been using mowers and string cutters to cut the weeds along the rest of of our Right of Way—approximately 30 miles in San Mateo County—and we expect to be done by early July at the latest. 

The crews will return later in the summer, where needed, to deal with other late-season weeds, and to trim along fence lines and around valves of other appurtenances. 

Our annual vegetation control program begins every spring as soon as the ground is dry enough for the mowing equipment. 

Sawyer Camp Trail Update: Cal Fire Postpones Firefighting Exercise to Week of June 25

Friday, June 22—Cal Fire has postponed again its Peninsula Watershed firefighting exercise for first responders  to one day next week, the week of June 25. 

The south half of the Sawyer Camp Trail will remain open, from the Skyline entrance to the Jepson gate at the trail's approximate mid-point, with only the north half closed the day of the exercise. 

For further details on any specific dates that Cal Fire relays to us, please see "Trail Updates" at the top of the righthand column. 

Cyclists should be prepared to use alternate routes during that week.   

El Camino Real Landscape Update

The Regional Groundwater Storage and Recovery (GSR) project has nearly completed its work at the Garden Chapel Funeral Home site along El Camino Real. We have drilled a new approximately 620-foot well, built a new well station, and installed 850 feet of pipeline to connect this with the water transmission system. We removed the trees along the pipeline alignment along El Camino Real between Southwood Drive and Orange Avenue for this project.

After discussions with the City of South San Francisco, the SFPUC has planted 15 Coast Live Oak trees along El Camino Real in a way as to not interfere with the pipes in the ground. The team has also planted groundcover in this area and replaced the fence of the Baden Valve Lot with a new black vinyl-coated fence. 

Additional Project Construction

As the project moves forward into Phase 2 we will work on locating up to three additional well sites in Northern San Mateo County. This may require that  the team access the pipeline that runs adjacent along El Camino Real between Southwood Drive and Orange Avenue. The additional work may disturb the groundcover, which the SFPUC will restore after the pipeline work is complete. There will be no impact to the newly replanted trees.

Sawyer Camp Trail Update--Firefighting Exercise Postponed Again until June 19, 20 or 21

Wednesday, June 13. 2018--The firefighting exercise for first responders, scheduled for one day this week, has been postponed again until the days of either next Tuesday, June 19, Wednesday, June 20, or Thursday, June 21, depending on weather and other conditions. 

The south half of the Sawyer Camp Trail, from the Skyline entrance to the Jepson gate at the trail's approximate mid-point will remain open for all of those days, with only the north half closed the day of the exercise. 

Cyclists should be prepared to use alternate routes during those three days.  

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Sawyer Camp Trail Update: Firefighting Exercise on Peninsula Watershed Postponed for Day or Two

The firefighting exercise scheduled for June 12-13 has been postponed until this coming Thursday, June 14 or Friday, June 15, depending on weather and other conditions. 

The south half of the Sawyer Camp Trail, from the Skyline entrance to the Jepson gate at the trail's approximate mid-point will remain open, no matter what day the exercise is held.  The north half, from the Hillcrest entrance down to the Jepson Gate will be closed. 

Cal Fire is staging the exercise as a training session for first responders in preparation for the fire season.  

Getting Ready for Fire Season: Sawyer Camp Trail Closure June 12-13 for Emergency Training Exercise

The entire Sawyer Camp Trail, from the Skyline Entrance to Hillcrest, will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, June 12-13, for public safety during a fire-fighting exercise Calfire will hold on the Peninsula Watershed for first responders. 

Calfire announced tentative plans for the  training session at a recent reunion of firefighters, police officers, park rangers, watershed keepers and other first responders, hosted every year by the SFPUC Natural Resources Division. But, as in previous years, dates for this kind of activity depend on the condition of the grasses, weather, winds, and other factors that are not predictable well in advance. If current dates are postponed for any of those reasons, we will post updates on this blog.  

As the second largest landowner on the Peninsula, the SFPUC is constantly on the watch throughout the 23,000-acre watershed and some 30 miles of pipeline right of way for potential fires and other disasters. Conditions are changing, Natural Resources director Tim Ramirez told the crowd at the Pulgas Temple  lunch time gathering. “Every year seems to be different, and the fire season is getting longer.”

The SFPUC routinely teams with neighboring agencies on day-to-day issues of trail management, tree clearances and public safety as well as sudden fires, injuries, and other emergencies.  Partner agencies already have access to the routes they could need at any time.  And our watershed keepers—trained responders as well—help with fires or other disasters on neighboring lands and come with emergency drinking water vehicles when needed.  “Those are times when people really come together,” said acting watershed manager John Fournet. 

The Pulgas event is a standing occasion to renew bonds and get acquainted with newcomers. “This way,” Fournet said, “we already know each other when something happens.”

Temporary Weekday Closures of Sawyer Camp and San Andreas Trail Segments

The San Mateo County Parks Department will close parts of the Sawyer Camp and San Andreas trails, on different midweek dates during the first two weeks of June, for annual mowing to make the trails more usable and reduce fire risk. Here are the dates for each trail segment.   

·        June 5-6: Sawyer Camp Trail south half, Skyline entrance to the Jepson Laurel (mile marker 3.5), starting the evening of the 4^th and reopening the evening of the 6th

·        June 7-8: Sawyer Camp Trail north half, Hillcrest entrance to the Jepson Laurel, from the evening of the 6^th, reopening the evening of the 8^th

·        June 12-13:  San Andreas Trail, from the evening of the 11th, reopening the evening of the 13th

Cyclists, please use alternate routes on those dates. 

For updates or unexpected changes, please visit https://parks.smcgov.org/crystal-springs-regional-trail.