Zone 7 revises Medeiros project

After receiving feedback and concerns from local residents, Zone 7 Water Agency officials say they have scaled back the Arroyo Mocho Medeiros Parkway project -- and they urge community members to attend a public meeting on the revised design next week.

The project aims to reduce flood risk along the 0.7-mile Medeiros Parkway Reach of the Arroyo Mocho in Livermore, located between Arroyo Road and Holmes Street. The project's scope has been revised since the original environmental public review over the summer, after neighbors voiced concerns regarding the associated truck traffic and the amount of materials being excavated.

"The smaller project now proposed seeks to reduce flood risk by restoring flow to the natural floodplain in the Oak Grove Nature Reserve, without any significant excavation," Zone 7 officials said.

To accomplish this, the proposed project plans to lower the Arroyo Mocho bike trail, so that during major storms the higher water levels would overtop the trail and flow into the Oak Grove Nature Reserve, which has a basin-like topography, due to excavation work from past gravel quarry operations, according to Zone 7.

Depending on grant funding, additional work could include the removal of invasive species, mostly by cutting vegetation and applying herbicides, along with improvements to existing dirt trails within the nature reserve, according to Zone 7 General Manager Valerie Pryor.

The project will still cover a 40-acre plot of land, Pryor said, but will result in much less ground disturbance -- the excavation has been reduced from 100,000 cubic yards to about 2,500 and the project will see less construction within the Arroyo Mocho channel.

"Along the lowered trail, we'll replace affected trees and also stabilize the bank against erosion," Pryor said. "This area and where we will lower the asphalt bike trail are the primary construction areas, they cover approximately 15 acres."

Zone 7 is currently preparing a new environmental review document and expects to release it for public inspection in December and January. The agency anticipates construction will happen summer 2019.

The public meeting to review the new design is set for next Wednesday (Dec. 5) from 6-8 p.m. in Zone 7's boardroom at 100 N. Canyons Pkwy. in Livermore.

In other Zone 7 news:

* The water agency is discontinuing its "Energy Star Most Efficient Clothes Washer Program" at the end of the year, because changing plumbing and energy codes will only permit Energy Star-rated washers to be sold in the market.

Rebate applications for qualifying Energy Star washers bought and installed on or before Dec. 31 should be mailed and postmarked by March 1 of next year.