Recycled & Potable Water System Improvements
City of Mountain View
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Redtail Consulting provided technical studies and prepared the IS/MND for this project to (1) extend recycled water service in the City’s North Bayshore Precise Plan Area, completing a system loop and enabling further extensions of service in the future, and (2) relocate an existing City potable water main from an easement on Google’s Charleston Road/Shorebird Way campus into nearby Shorebird Way to improve its accessibility for operations and maintenance.
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The project was planned install a total of almost 5,000 linear feet of new recycled water pipeline and about 600 linear feet of new potable water pipeline. Portions of the pipeline alignments are within City Habitat Overlay Zones protecting sensitive biological resources, including habitat around the Charleston Retention Basin as well a regionally important egret rookery along Shorebird Way. Key issues included water quality protection and worker and public safety during excavation in areas with known groundwater contamination. Another key concern was the need to avoid impacting the egret rookery, including direct disturbance of nesting birds as well as potential damage to rookery trees; our scope included providing arborist recommendations to protect rookery trees during construction and avoid root damage that could result in a long-term decline in rookery tree health. With construction costs skyrocketing, the City was forced to table the project until additional funding is available, and we advised the team on the best way to streamline the CEQA process when the project comes back online.
Photo courtesy of Pacific Biology