Point Reyes Light - September 20, 2001
Fire protection v. disruption in Valley
By Patrik Jorgensen
A handful of San Geronimo Valley Planning Group members last week criticized a proposed water tank that might be placed on the Blueberry Hill or the Spirit Rock property.
Marin Municipal Water District wants to erect the new storage facility to bolster supplies of drinking water, primarily in East Marin, although the Valley is also served by MMWD.
On a day-to-day basis, said Ron Theisen of Marin Municipal, the main beneficiary of a new storage facility would be Fairfax. However, in the event of a major wildfire in the San Geronimo Valley, Woodacre could benefit most.
Theisen after the meeting noted that water stored in the facility would be available for firefighting in the Valley should there ever be a need. At present, the Valley’s storage facilities in Woodacre, hold only 1.5 million gallons. The proposed storage facility would hold eight-million- to 10-million-gallons.
Fire danger in Valley
In 1991-92, the Marin Open Space District and Marin Municipal hired researchers from two consulting firms to study fire danger on Mount Tamalpais and nearby areas. The findings alarmed many San Geronimo Valley residents.
If a wildfire broke out in the Spirit Rock area and the wind was blowing from the northeast, it would push the fire across Sir Francis Drake Boulevard toward the southwest, burning residences in its path, consultants determined.
Under hot, dry conditions, a fire could quickly spread throughout western Woodacre and be difficult to control, their study concluded. In fact, a computer simulation found that virtually all of the developed part of Woodacre would be destroyed in the first 30 minutes of such a wildfire – except for homes in the Grove and Castle Rock area, as well as points east.
In the next 18 minutes, the fire would double in size – mostly to the west and southeast, the consultants added.
No site selected yet
The site for the storage facility has still not been decided, but Theisen said that two sites, Blueberry Hill and Spirit Rock, are currently under review by Montgomery, Watson, and Harza, the company in charge of surveying the sites. So far, "Blueberry Hill is the preferred site," Theisen said.
Despite the fire-protection benefits for the Valley, a few Planning Group members last week told Marin Municipal they were upset at having to put up with a storage facility in the Valley that more often than not would benefit Fairfax.
They also claimed storage facilities would be unsightly – at least until foliage grows up and hides them.
Planning Group member Jean Berensmeier of Lagunitas said a tank on top of Blueberry Hill on the south side of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard would be an eyesore.
Planning Group chairman Ken Naffziger, while warning that "the water district is quite a force to deal with," said, "There’s a lot of concern and suspicion among [Valley] residents."
Most of tanks hidden
Speaking to the issue of aesthetics, Ron Theisen of Marin Municipal, said that any facility would be only partly above ground. MMWD plans to bury most of it so that the landscape will in time appear basically untouched, he added.
One proposed design for the facility, Theisen said, would consist of two square tanks 45 feet deep and connected to each other.
"The tanks would only be partially above the grade, and then we would plant trees and fill in dirt to make it look almost the same as before," Theisen said.
He said MMWD might even plant large trees to more quickly hide any excavation work and that in five to eight years, most people would not be able to see it from the valley.
Berensmeier said that as far as she was concerned, neither site for the storage facility is acceptable to her.
Storage now inadequate
At present, MMWD uses an 83-year-old, two-mile-long pipeline to hold a supply of treated water, but the pipe is leaking, and water in the pipe is of questionable quality for drinking.
Explaining the need for placing the storage facility on a hillside, Theisen said, "we need a location that is higher in elevation than the pipeline." When using gravity to transport water, the district needs the same amount of water flowing into the tunnel, which in this case comes from Kent Lake Reservoir, as flows out at the downhill end. Otherwise, a vacuum, which might cause the tunnel to collapse, could be formed, he said.
Theisen declined to comment on whether or not the proposed storage facility will be built if there is too much opposition from Valley residents. He said that after district staff recommends a site, whether it be Blueberry Hill or Spirit Rock, Marin Municipal directors will give it further review.
Once a board decision is made, Marin Municipal plans to survey public opinion, and if opposition persists, "it will be up to the board to decide whether or not to proceed," Theisen said.