Life on the Watershed: Searching for Signs of the Secretive Dusky-footed Woodrat

It’s a small nighttime animal that's critical to the health of the oak woodland ecosystem.  For the most part, it keeps hidden from human view, but the indicators of its presence are there for us to see, especially at this time of year. 

Named for their soot-colored webbed feet, Dusky-footed woodrats are small, secretive nighttime animals that we almost never see. But here in the oak woodlands, the proof of their presence is in their large visible dwellings, called middens. These are sprawling, untidy-looking heaps of twigs and other forest debris nestled into dense woodland growth near the base of a tree--or up a tree between branching limbs.   

Despite the ramshackle look, the midden is durable and water-tight. Its clean interior is neatly organized into a central nest area surrounded by other chambers for storage of different plant, fungus and nut foods, plus numerous tunnels, latrines, entrances and exits.    

The Dusky-footed woodrat is listed as a California species of special concern—meaning a native species now at risk for population and habitat decline—but it is key to our oak woodland ecosystem. It’s a principal food source for larger neighbors, especially certain owl species, as well as hawks, bobcats, and coyotes. Also, after a woodrat dies or moves on, the empty midden soon serves as handy protective lodging for other small woodland dwellers, such as mice, lizards, newts and various spiders and insects.

 

Middens can be hard to see because many are well camouflaged within the trees. But now is a good time of year to spot them, when winter conditions have thinned out some of the surrounding vegetation. 

Look in the wooded areas on either side of the Sawyer Camp Trail. 

Bay Area Pros Check Out Expanded Capacity of Peninsula's Upgraded Water Treatment Plant

Engineers at the Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant in San Bruno hosted about 50 peers from other water and wastewater facilities throughout the Bay Area earlier this week.

It was an opportune time to show off the plant’s new state-of-the-art features—which now allow for a much increased treatment capacity for up to 60 days in the event of a major earthquake. Though we’re not presently addressing a natural disaster, our Mountain Tunnel in the Sierra Nevada is shut down for two months of inspection and maintenance.  The  tunnel is a major link in that section of the Hetch Hetchy Water System. So during its shutdown all water supply for San Francisco and parts of the Peninsula comes from our local Peninsula reservoirs and through Harry Tracy. The plant is currently treating 80 to 85 million gallons of Peninsula water per day—more than double its usual daily load of 35 million gallons.

And it can do more. Harry Tracy is now capable of treating up to 140 million gallons per day for 60 days within 24 hours of a major earthquake.  The plant upgrade was an essential project on the Peninsula and part of our $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program to repair, replace and seismically upgrade the entire Hetch Hechy Regional Water System.   

Sawyer Camp Trail Update: Northern Section Closed Again

The San Mateo County Parks Department has closed the northern half of the trail again, from the Hillcrest entrance to the Jepson Laurel, until further notice because of further damage from the weekend rains. 

The northern entrance to the San Andreas Trail, at San Bruno Avenue, is also blocked by a fallen tree. 

For continuing updates, please visit the Parks Department website here.    

Wishing You a Wonderful President's Day

There will be no construction work on our projects through Monday, February 20th. Work will resume on Tuesday, February 21st.

Sawyer Camp Trail Update: San Mateo County Parks Department rangers reopened the northern half of the trail this afternoon, February 17th. The entire trail is now open, dawn to dusk. For questions over the three-day weekend, please call the Ranger Station at 650-573-2592. 

Southern Half of Sawyer Camp Trail Reopened

The San Mateo County Parks Department has reopened the Sawyer Camp Trail from the South Gate to the Jepson Laurel. The section between the North Gate and the Jepson Laurel remains closed until further notice. 

Park rangers have cleared away approximately 10 tons of material from the trail surface and built berms to keep water and gravel from flowing down the trail. 

For updates, please visit the Parks Department website here.

Storms Close Sawyer Camp Trail until Further Notice

The San Mateo County Parks Department has temporarily closed the entire Sawyer Camp Trail until further notice because of flooding, other storm damage, and the possibility of falling trees and landslides.

For updates and further information, visit the San Mateo County Parks Department website here.  

What Is so Hot About Hot Tapping?

A hot tap is not the next latest craze in hot stone massage.  It is, however, a very important tool that we at the SFPUC, as well as many other utilities, use to complete important upgrades to water transmission lines without any impacts to our customers. And it is coming to a pipeline near you.

The procedure involves attaching special fittings to the outside of the pipe that create a hole and connection to the new pipe while it is still full of water and under pressure. Ten of the 13 new well sites that were recently constructed through the Regional Groundwater Storage and Recovery Project required hot taps to connect the well stations with pipes belonging to the SFPUC as well as our partners in Daly City and Cal Water. This work was completed in 2016. This first phase of the project should be complete in 2017.

Why are hot taps important? Hot taps allowed us to connect these new groundwater well sites to the existing water pipes while they were still servicing our customers.

About the Regional Groundwater Storage and Recovery Project (GSR)

The Regional Groundwater Storage & Recovery (GSR) project includes the construction of up to 16 new recovery wells and associated facilities on the Peninsula. This project is the result of a landmark agreement between the SFPUC and City of Daly City, City of San Bruno and California Water Service Company to help manage the South Westside Groundwater Basin. In wet years these entities will use Hetch Hetchy water in place of their groundwater supplies to allow the aquifer to store up to 20 billion gallons of water for use in times of drought.   

 Thirteen well sites are now in construction on the Peninsula and the project has completed drilling the last well apart of the current construction contract.

To learn more about the GSR project visit sfwater.org/GSR