Date: Aug. 30, 2004

Water district proposes new outlet pipe for Lexington Reservoir

LOS GATOS — The Santa Clara Valley Water District is proposing a two-year project to end a recurring problem at Lexington Reservoir’s James J. Lenihan Dam.

For the past five years, the water district has been overseeing patchwork repairs to an aging steel pipe that runs under the dam. Despite attempts to repair the damage, the pipe is deteriorating from continued corrosion and abrasion.

The proposed solution is to excavate a half-mile long, 9-foot high tunnel through St. Joseph ’s Hill on the eastern edge of the dam. A 48-inch-diameter outlet pipe inside the tunnel would allow the district to more safely release water from the reservoir into Los Gatos Creek.

An environmental review of the proposed project is available for public comment.

The project – if ultimately approved by the water district board of directors – could begin as early as 2006 and take approximately 18 months to complete. In the first year of the project, the district would tunnel through a hillside adjacent to the dam where the new pipe would empty into Los Gatos Creek.

In the second year, the district would need to draw down the level of water in Lexington Reservoir to complete construction and seal off the existing pipe.

Popular recreational trails in the area are expected to remain open during construction. A portion of the Los Gatos Creek Trail that extends from the creek to the eastern edge of the face of the dam will be temporarily re-routed up the western face of the dam.

The project is not expected to affect use of nearby Jones or St. Joseph ’s Hill trails.

The new outlet pipe would allow the district to more efficiently release water during dry months into Los Gatos Creek for fish and wildlife, and to replenish the groundwater basin.

A draft environmental review of the proposed project required by state law, as well as an engineer’s report, have been released by the water district board of directors for public review. Both are available on the Santa Clara Valley Water District Web site, www.valleywater.org.

Comments can be e-mailed to the district via lenihan_dam@valleywater.org, or during a public hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9, in the Los Gatos Neighborhood Center , Los Gatos .

Lexington Reservoir and its dam were built in 1952 about three miles south of Los Gatos , adjacent to Highway 17. When full, it can hold more than 6.4 billion gallons of water, enough to meet the annual needs of more than 38,000 families.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District manages Santa Clara County's wholesale drinking water resources, coordinates flood protection for its 1.7 million residents and provides stewardship for the county's 10 reservoirs and more than 800 miles of streams.