California Water Service has completed its upgrades to infrastructure in the northeastern area of Portola Valley. Beginning in August 2024, Cal Water has been working on enhancing water supply reliability and fire protection to the Ladera community. The work was done as of Feb. 21.
Improvements to the Ladera water system allow the water to travel through elevational differences in the neighborhood and with more reliable pathways, according to the Cal Water press release. The company installed 1,300 feet of new water main, south of Interstate 280 and east of Alpine Drive.
After the 2018 fire in Paradise, Cal Water began to prioritize wildfire hardening across all of its districts. Over the last seven years, the company has been identifying weak points across the state and implementing projects to fortify these areas, said Dawn Smithson, Bear Gulch district manager.
In Ladera, workers installed larger pipes underground for increased flow. The project also focused on moving water from “zone to zone” by installing valves that will pull water from adjacent areas, Smithson said.
“If you have a firefighter that’s pulling from a hydrant, that hydrant is probably coming from one water tank and that tank is being filled in one or two ways,” she added. “We like to have multiple pathways to a tank, so in case one fails, there’s still another route.”
Cal Water has been working on multiple projects across the state to upgrade water pump stations to direct more water through these new water mains.
According to the Woodside Fire Protection District, hydrants are not designed or intended to serve as a primary tool to fight wildfires but rather for structure fires in urban, suburban and developed areas. In wildland-urban interface communities like Woodside and Portola Valley, nearby hydrants can support fire containment efforts but are not suitable for the extensive supply that is necessary to fight the blaze.
Smithson said the completion of the Ladera project will better supply hydrants allowing firefighters to use water from multiple tanks in different areas, especially when one source is depleted.
Water that supplies the tanks is largely sourced from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, she said. Cal Water also has a local supply that collects water from a watershed in Woodside and a reservoir in Atherton, which supplies 10% of its supply.
“San Francisco water is very good, but it’s also pretty expensive, so we try to get as much out of our local water as possible, because that helps keep the cost down for our customers,” said Smithson.
Preparation and risk prevention
Cal Water’s main replacement program aims to renew the oldest and most vulnerable pipes before they become a risk. “Every foot of [water] main in our system has been analyzed,” she added.
The company has a wildfire task force that does annual vegetation maintenance and a review of necessary upgrades that need to be made in wildfire hardening techniques. For a state prone to earthquakes, Cal Water has also installed flexible joints on water mains that run across fault lines to prevent pipes from breaking.
Cal Water says it is also prepared for Public Safety Power Shutoffs, when power is turned off to prevent risk of fires caused by electric infrastructure. Stations in areas susceptible to wildfires carry permanent and portable generators to ensure that water pumps continue to function even when there’s power loss.