UPDATE! Trail Closure Dates for June 2013

The corrected dates for temporary Sawyer Camp Trail closures are as follows:

Wednesday-Friday, June 5th-7th for Hetch Hetchy Water System work.

Tuesday & Wednesday, June 18th &19th for maintenance by San Mateo County Parks.

Sawyer Camp Trail will be closed all 6 miles for both periods. The trail may reopen early – updates will be available online and by phone. San Andreas Trail will remain open.

In addition, the roads around Sawyer Camp Trail will be shared with cycling events on the mornings of Sunday, June 2 and Sunday, June 9 for the AIDS Lifecycle Ride and Silicon Valley Tour de Cure, respectively. Drivers are advised to be cautious when driving and parking near the trail. The roads will NOT be closed.

No further closures are scheduled at this time.

Questions? Please call us at (866) 973-1476, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Construction Update for Water Awareness Month!

May is Water Awareness Month! So we're taking the opportunity to explain how we’re improving the way “raw water” from our Peninsula watershed flows through the Crystal Springs Reservoir System to the Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant (HTWTP), where it is treated before being sent to customers’ taps.

 

Old outlet structures, such as the one on the left,
are being modified and cut below water level.



Water in the reservoirs is called “raw water,” a generic term used for water resources from nature, e.g. from a local watershed, before purification at a treatment plant.  Local raw water that collects in the Crystal Springs Reservoir, which is comingled with a surplus of Sierra Nevada snowmelt, is pumped through a transmission system into the San Andreas Reservoir. From this reservoir the water is drawn into the HTWTP, which is located nearby.



A crane delivers a steel beam for underwater

construction at Crystal Springs Reservoir



San Andreas Rises to Meet Your Needs   



Pipe for new Crystal Springs Pump Station



Visitors to San Andreas Trail with an astute eye may observe water levels in San Andreas Reservoir rising late this spring as our new Crystal Springs Pump Station is tested during its final stages of construction. Located near Crystal Springs Dam, the new pump station will be able to transport water from Crystal Springs Reservoir to San Andreas Reservoir with 1/3 more capacity and using less power than the old pump station, which was last substantially upgraded in the 1920s. During the testing period this spring, San Andreas Reservoir is expected to rise approximately six feet.



Work at Highway 92 Crossing, Where South to North is Upper to Lower

You’ll also notice construction activities at the south end of Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir just north of the Hwy 92 crossing. This includes seismic improvements to the Upper Crystal Springs Dam Lower Culvert (small bypass tunnel) which conveys water north from the Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir to the Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir. A durable, flexible high density polyethylene (HDPE) liner will be installed within the culvert, which crosses the San Andreas Fault, and a vertical portal will be connected to the culvert upstream of the fault.



Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant Upgrades 50% Complete



Welding at HTWTP



Like the Crystal Springs-San Andreas Transmission System, the regional water treatment plant is also undergoing major seismic and capacity upgrades as part of the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP). The Contractor has completed pouring the base for the new 11-million gallon treated water reservoir. Crews continue to work on the addition of new filters, seismic retrofits of critical processing units, and upgrades to electrical and other systems.



We can genuinely say the Hetch Hetchy Water System is more seismically reliable today than it was a year ago. Upon completion of construction, the HTWTP will be able to sustain a capacity of 140 million gallons per day (MGD), for up to 60 days, within 24 hours following a major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault.

Concrete Pour for 11 million gallon Treated Water Reservoir at HTWTP



Sawyer Camp Trail Now Open

Great news: Sawyer Camp Trail has reopened ahead of schedule! San Mateo County Parks swiftly completed their planned tree maintenance and the trail will not be closed on Wednesday, May 8 as previously scheduled.

No further trail closures are scheduled at this time. For updates, please subscribe to this blog and/or follow us on Twitter: @sawyercamptrail.

Enjoy the beautiful spring weather on the trails!

2-day Trail Closure May 7-8

Sawyer Camp Trail will be closed from the Crystal Springs Dam trailhead to mile marker 3 Tuesday & Wednesday, May 7^th and 8^th for Sudden Oak Death tree removal by San Mateo County Parks.

Sudden oak death is a deadly pathogen that has devastated oak forests in California and Oregon.

No further trail closures are scheduled at this time.