August 8, 2005

City’s percolation ponds to be opened for public use

Project collaboration between county agencies and city

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

Campbell’s percolation ponds at the intersection of Winchester Boulevard and Hacienda Avenue are about to receive a makeover.

The percolation ponds on the corner of Hacienda Avenue and Winchester Blvd. will be receiving a makeover soon. The two large bodies of groundwater will become more enticing to the public when the city begins to build trails next year along the water, install new sidewalks and plant trees, shrubs and groundcover near the ponds.

The two large bodies of groundwater will become more enticing to the public when the city begins to build trails next year along the water, install new sidewalks and plant trees, shrubs and groundcover near the ponds.

Owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the ponds’ renovation project is expected to cost about $400,000. Part of the money for the improvements, about $100,000 is expected to come from the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority.

The district is providing the rest of the funds, giving the city $300,000. Campbell will be responsible for installing and maintaining the enhancements.

Pedestrian friendly open space
“It’s a good open space that will be improved and become more pedestrian friendly,” said Fred Ho, Campbell’s senior engineer. He noted that the city has been wanting to enhance the ponds since 1997 when a series of public meetings were conducted in cooperation with the district to discuss the issue.

Zack Lake, Campbell’s associate civil engineer, said the project would beautify the area and build sidewalks along Hacienda Avenue and Winchester Boulevard and install curbs and gutters.

“It’s really going to look nice,” Lake said. “It will open this area for pedestrian use.”

The district’s money for the project comes from the Clean, Safe Creeks and Natural Flood Protection Program, which was created in November 2000 when county voters passed Measure B.

The measure established a special parcel tax providing nearly $1 million in annual revenue to the district to create 70 miles of trails and open spaces during the program’s 15-year period. The district approved the program in March 2003. The city immediately applied for the money. A one-third mile section of trail will be built across the nearly two-acre site connecting to the Los Gatos Creek Trail.

More amenities
Additional amenities include installation of a low fence adjacent to the back of the new sidewalks next to the water, access paths, gates, signage to control public access, new seating benches and interpretive signs. A six-foot tall chain link fence around the facility will be removed and improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act will also be made.

The Campbell City Council unanimously adopted a resolution last month authorizing an application to the authority for the project’s funding, which would be about 20 percent.

In March 2004, the council also adopted a resolution to enhance the 10-foot deep ponds, commonly known as the South Page Ponds Groundwater Recharge Facility. That same month, the city signed an agreement with the district to proceed with the project.

The project calls for access to the ponds from Hacienda Avenue. A preliminary project schedule indicates final design plans will occur from now until the end of the year. Bidding for the project will occur between January and March of next year with actual construction between April and October 2006.

The ponds contain groundwater that has seeped beneath the earth’s surface down through soil materials. They allow water to percolate, or seep, through layers of rock and gravel. The water is cleaned as it slowly travels downward and eventually reaches an underground aquifer. The purpose of man-made percolation ponds is to clean the water and keep the ground from sinking.

Mike Di Marco, a spokesman for the district, explained the ponds belong to a group of eight ponds located in Campbell west of Winchester Boulevard. They’re part of a complicated water system that supplies water to the county.

County’s drinking water
Half the county’s drinking water system comes from the ground water aquifer. To refill or recharge the aquifer, the district uses ponds and creeks that percolate water into the groundwater basin.

The district owns 19 ground water recharge ponds in the county. The Campbell ponds are fed by water that comes from the Los Gatos Creek and the Central Pipeline. The ponds were built in 1935 and rebuilt between 1961 and 1964. Similar enhancements were made at ponds located at McGlincy Lane, east of Highway 17, north of Camden Avenue.

Campbell has so many ponds because it’s located in a good so-called recharge area with gravel in the soil that allows water to percolate down to the groundwater basin more than in most other areas of the valley where there’s clay layers beneath the soil.

The reason the district was formed in 1929 was because farmers were pumping so much water for agricultural purposes that the land was sinking, Di Marco said.

The district built reservoirs to catch rainwater that otherwise washed into San Francisco Bay. The agency slowly releases the water into streams and percolation ponds.

“These ponds are very important to the valley,” Di Marco said. “Our philosophy here is to try to partner with the city and the county to build trails and open up park areas like this for public enjoyment.”