Wildlife Protection Measures for the Crystal Springs Reservoir Projects

Ever wonder about the short construction fencing that has popped up around the Sawyer Camp Trail area? The black fabric fencing is only 42 inches high, but what you can’t see is it extends 6 inches below the ground! This is to prevent sensitive or endangered species from entering construction zones. This wildlife exclusion fence is monitored by onsite biologists and maintained by the project team. You can easily jump over the fence…but please don’t! You would be entering an active construction site.

Wildlife exclusion fence prevents species from entering work zone.

You may also have seen a new gravel access road on Skyline Blvd. just south of Black Mountain Road (above Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir). This is a new access road which allows our construction team and water department staff to reach our pipeline directly (rather than use Sawyer Camp Trail!). You may see a few more of these roads in the watershed in the coming months.

Hikers may also see some tree-cutting taking place near Sawyer Camp Trail this spring and summer. This is the start of the work that will seismically upgrade our 7 mile pipeline. The tree-cutting process is carefully monitored and supervised by biologists. Restoration plans require replacement trees to be planted -- in some cases three new trees will be planted in the Peninsula Watershed for every one tree cut!