Safeguarding Our Pipeline Right of Way

If you live along or near the SFPUC Right of Way (ROW), you may have a neighbor question or concern, as neighbors anywhere sometimes do. The ROW harbors the pipelines just underground that convey drinking water to our customers, and ROW Manager Emily Read is, in effect, our property manager for the vital transmission corridor.  

Any given work day she’ll be dealing with facility security, maintenance issues, emergency repairs, enforcement of our  policies, and collaboration with the many ROW neighbors whose cooperation we need to keep our water supply reliable.  

    

One part of the job is vegetation management to protect both water supply and adjoining private property. Annual mowing of spring grasses gets going as soon as the ground is dry. In spots where the slopes are too steep for the equipment, Emily commissions goats to eat away the overgrowth. 

She and her team are also routinely on the lookout for illegal dumping, garden extensions, structures intruding from neighbors’ backyards onto the ROW, and other unpermitted uses.The usual first approach to resolving potential conflict is to engage neighbors early. They'll talk about  our ROW policies, and  how a trivial-seeming infringement can hinder our access for essential pipeline maintenance or emergency response to breaks—and even jeopardize the lines themselves.

 “It can be hard for people to have land just beyond their backyards that looks unoccupied but that they’re not allowed to use,” she says. “But, the fact is, it’s not vacant space. It’s home for a water system serving more than 2.7 million people, including them. So we do our best to safeguard our water supply and be a good neighbor. 

"In the end, most people are fine with the restrictions when they realize the importance of a clear, unobstructed pipeline ROW.“

It's the kind of mutual understanding that can make a ROW Manager’s day. 

Sawyer Camp Trail Update: South Half to Reopen Afternoon of May 9

The County of San Mateo  is completing its scheduled construction activities near the Skyline Bridge today, and the Sawyer Camp  Trail south half will reopen sometime this afternoon (Wednesday, May 9)—in time for Bike to Work Day, Thursday, May 10.  

For the most current information, please visit:

 https://parks.smcgov.org/crystal-springs-regional-trail

Two-Day Closure of Sawyer Camp Trail South Half Wednesday and Thursday, May 9-10

The County of San Mateo will close the southern half of the Sawyer Camp Trail for two days, from the Skyline entrance to the Jepson Laurel at mile 3.5, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 9-10, for public safety during construction activities. The north half of the trail will be open from the Hillcrest entrance to the Jepson Laurel.  

Cyclists please use alternate routes during that period.     

Habitat Restoration Project Wrapping Up

These recent  acorn plantings near the Lower Crystal Springs Dam are some of the last under the watershed’s Bioregional Habitat Program’s vegetation removal project. 

Each of the protective Tubex tree shelters houses one Coastal live oak acorn apiece. The tubes will help foster strong, straight trunks and safeguard the young saplings from rodents and other greenery predators. We’ll be nurturing the new trees for the next few years

Still to come is one final series of acorn plantings on land adjacent to part of the Sawyer Camp Trail that we cleared of nonnative invasive trees, mostly black acacias, in 2016. We’ll be doing that  planting as soon as we’re confident we’ve eliminated potential resprouting of the destructive acacias.  

In all, the restoration program is restoring about 180 acres of native grassland, Coastal live oak forest and wetlands at different locales within the watershed.  The historic California habitats foster a rich diversity of native plant, insect, bird and animal life. 

Endangered Mission blue butterfly. 

The 23,000-acre watershed is also a California State Fish and Game Refuge, and home to the highest concentration of rare, threatened and endangered species in the nine-county Bay Area.  More on some of THOSE in future blogs. 

Spring Out along Watershed Ridge Trail

Spring is an ideal time to explore the Peninsula Watershed via the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail, currently open by reservation on certain scheduled days.

Bright green ridges and meadows are coming to life with wildflowers while the trail’s more sheltered, woodsy stretches take you through evergreen groves of old-growth fir.  There are deer on the ground, hawks overhead, nesting birds in song, and long vistas in every direction.  

The 13-mile trail offers public access to the interior of the 23,000-acre watershed that’s otherwise restricted to safeguard the water supply and surrounding natural resources. The scheduled hikes, bike rides, and occasional horseback rides are led by trained volunteer trail leaders on selected Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Group size is limited, with events ranging from cardio workouts to nature rambles. “Whatever you choose,” says Peninsula Watershed Manager Joe Naras, “the experience is unique. The place gives you the impression that no one else is there.”

For more information, and to make a reservation, visit here.   

AND, if you want to tailor an event to your interest or pace, consider joining our corps of trained volunteer trail leaders.  To apply, go here, and then scroll down to the Ridge Trail Volunteer Form link at the bottom of the page. Or contact Ridge Trail Program Manager John Fournet, jfournet@sfwater.org, for more information on these and other opportunities.  

We’re also expanding our educational and public access programs on the watershed.  A key project is the SFPUC Bay Area Ridge Trail Southern Extension, with design development and the mandatory environmental review currently under way.

THE WAY IT WAS: Great April 1906 ‘Quake Wipes Out City's First Peninsula Drinking Water Pipeline

April 18, 1906—The Peninsula Watershed had been a vital drinking water source for the young flourishing City of San Francisco since the 1860s, starting with the construction of the Pilarcitos Dam and the first pipeline (also named Pilarcitos) from watershed to city. 

By 1906, the Peninsula was home to two other lines into the City--San Andreas and Crystal Springs.That year, early in the morning of April 18, the Great Earthquake put all three out of commission.The San Andreas was back in service by the end of the month, and the Crystal Springs several weeks later. But the Pilarcitos—which happened to lie directly along the fault line—was beyond repair. It never operated again.

Earthquake Anniversary Reminder: Are you ready for the next one? Be sure to have enough drinking water for everyone in the household—one gallon per person per day for three days, plus a supply for every pet. For more information, visit the County of San Mateo Emergency Preparedness website hsd.smcsheriff.com, or  www.sf72.org.   

Weeding Our Way through the Right of Way

Spring has sprung and so have the weeds and grasses!  Property owners who live near the SFPUC Right of Way (ROW) have begun asking when the ROW will be mowed. Given this year’s late rains and warmer days, the vegetation along the pipeline corridors will grow very quickly now.

The SFPUC routinely begins the task of weed abatement in the spring – when the ground has dried out sufficiently to support the large tractor mower.  Along with the mower, crews use string trimmers along all fence lines and around appurtenances. It is a very labor intensive process, given some 75 miles of ROW land in three counties that must be addressed.  The first pass is usually completed by mid June, and a second is done in late summer to deal with different late season weeds.

The process begins in the southern and eastern reaches of the Regional Water System (Alameda and Santa Clara counties) where temperatures are higher and vegetation dries out more quickly.  The crews also have to pick up any illegal dumping that may have occurred in the last year before the mowing can be done.

"It’s a big job but we always finish by July 1 every year, and often much sooner," says SFPUC forester Jane Herman.  "This year looks different, given the late rains, but the goal is the same."