Staff Writer
The City of Fort Bragg is planning a 14.7 million-gallon reservoir on city property at the end of Summers Lane in an effort to satisfy part of an ongoing need for city water storage.
The reservoir plans worry neighbor Jim Celeri, whose home and rhododendron nursery are located on the downstream side of the property. The Mendocino Coast Humane Society and County Animal Control facilities are located on the uphill eastern boundary of a parcel that is currently a pine and fir forest.
“As the current plans stand, Celeri & Son Nursery will be greatly harmed,” stated a letter from the Celeri family to the city. “Property values in this locality will be greatly harmed. The environment will be greatly harmed. People will also be put at risk due to genuine safety issues.”
City Public Works Manager Dave Goble says geotechnical engineers are preparing plans for the small reservoir which must get approval through both the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process and from the City Council. Public hearings will be held.
Goble said the Celeris” concerns are all being examined during the extensive process which has just begun. The city used an engineering study to evaluate the site, analyze the soils and suggest a design. More studies are under way.
Last week, the city initiated a voluntary water conservation program and is considering going to the next stage, which would prohibit watering that runs onto the street or sidewalk.
Goble has been there for much of the city”s decades-long search for water storage. The city has made serious studies of desalinization and reverse-osmosis treatment for Noyo alluvium groundwater. Multiple other small reservoir sites were evaluated before the city made the move to use its own property on Summers Lane.
“We have looked and looked and continued to look …,” said Goble. “We tried to drill wells around the city to find groundwater sources, but we couldn”t get down to a depth and volume that made it worthwhile.”
The state once told the city that it needed to build a 1,000-acre-foot reservoir to meet drinking water needs. (The Summers Lane proposal is for a 45-acre-foot reservoir). The continuing need for additional water storage is well-documented, including in a 2008 Grand Jury report.
“Water production is adequate for current needs and for limited development,” the grand jury wrote, “but the present lack of storage capacity will result in shortages in the event of drought.”
The Celeri & Son wholesale rhododendron nursery is on property that has been in the family for 50 years. Wells on the property supply the business, and a line of towering conifers protect the rhododendrons from the wind.
“It has never had any problem supplying the approximate 11,000 gallons required to water the rhododendrons on a daily basis …,” the Celeri family wrote to the city. “Putting a five acre plastic-lined storage pond in will undoubtedly keep a lot of water from entering the system. How many gallons of water will be prevented from making the downhill journey to our wells?”
Goble said a geotechnical engineer is evaluating the potential effect that putting a lined reservoir will have on groundwater. A full report on that issue, and other Celeri concerns, will be available to the public before the project goes forward.
This reporter met the large extended family for a tour of the site and discussion of their efforts in investigating the project. The family has learned the ins and outs of public information laws while treading the regulatory structure for reservoirs. The project is too small to be regulated as a dam but looms large from the point of view of the family living room. Family members have raised a host of concerns, from the spread of weeds to noise from barking dogs after vegetation between the family and the two animal facilities is removed.
From the family front porch, rhododendrons fill the field between the family homestead and towering trees on the property where the reservoir is proposed.
One thing the city has done is plan to keep that row of trees. Other measures to mitigate wind include looking into slated cyclone fencing. The Celeris have observed red flags on trees and are worried that not enough are being left. And Jim Celeri thinks the tree row could topple from wind if the rest of the forest is removed.
Last week he proposed something much more involved; swapping the eight acres owned by the city for eight acres owned by Celeri in a flatter location that he thinks will be safer.
“It”s something that we need to look at,” Goble said. “Is it feasible? I can”t say yet. We will weigh it out and have discussions at the staff level.”
Celeri said Goble walked the site with him then came back later with an engineer.
Although the project is still in preliminary stages, the potential timeline is for the city to do the timber harvest as early as next spring, with work to start as early as next summer.
The Celeri family also worries about the effect of the pesticides used at the nursery on the water supply.
“These chemicals make it possible to grow nice, attractive plants — the type people are willing to spend money on — on a large enough scale to be profitable while combating insect damage …,” the Celeri family said. “What if trace amounts are detected in the proposed reservoir? Will this render the reservoir useless while it is contaminated?”
That too will be evaluated during the public process, Goble said. Use of cover plants, perhaps even rhododendrons, is among the measures being contemplated.
The Celeris” biggest worry is safety from the small reservoir. “While a minor leak could prove inconvenient, a major one could release a tidal wave capable of destroying our house. Flood insurance is a small consolation.”
In most scenarios, Goble explained, the failure of the 12- to 18-foot-high levee planned for the reservoir would result in a flow of water toward the northwest, missing the Celeri home and flowing down to the Noyo River. Contour maps show a drop of about 20 feet from a high area of 294 feet. The land offered by Celeri has a lower peak and is flatter.
The city has hired a geotechnical engineer to design the facility. A report is still in the works.
“What they are telling me is they have designed this thing to be as safe as they can … plus it will be lined [with plastic],” Goble said.
Among the safety features shown are an overflow area, an emergency discharge pipe and a bypass line around the reservoir.
Soil will be dug out and replaced to create the levees, which are to be reinforced by state of the art plastic-steel webbing.
“Obviously safety is right there at the top of our list,” Goble said.
There is a lot of evidence the city needs more water storage.
The city keeps 3.3 million gallons of treated water in tanks and has about 3 million acre-feet of water at the treatment plant on Cedar Street.
“And this time of year about 2 million gallons are stored at [nearby] Newman Reservoir,” Goble said.
Summer demand peaks at 1.2 million to 1.4 million gallons/day; in winter, demand drops to .5 million to .8 million gallons/day, a Mendocino County Grand Jury report from 2008 said. The grand jury recommended the city continue upgrading an aging system and find storage before a drought hits.
The city extracts most of its water from the Noyo River. Flows of the Noyo are now lower than average, resulting in the city”s ability to pump only when tides are high or low tides are above a certain level.
The city also extracts flows from Waterfall Gulch, a tributary of Hare Creek and the 19th century Newman Reservoir, which is located downstream from the proposed site. Waterfall Gulch feeds Newman Reservoir through a pipe, which would be upgraded and moved to deliver water to the new reservoir.
The worst point for city water woes was 1992. Since then the city has made big strides in upgrading pipes and systems that date to the mid-20th century, the grand jury reported.
The state declared a moratorium on new water connections in 1992. Goble recalls how city residents stepped up at that time to conserve water. The city instituted a water fixture retrofit program (low-flow toilets and showerheads). This reduced water use back to 1974 levels.
“That was an incredible accomplishment, and city residents were really a model for what people can do. They are always willing to do what it takes in these types of situations,” Goble said.
The moratorium was lifted in 1996, and new connections were permitted only within the city. New connections are not permitted outside the city limits.
Goble told KZYX&Z News the cost of the project is estimated between $1.2 and $1.5 million.
