Down the Drain

Your Boulevardier was walking on Grove Way near Tanglewood Drive before 9:00 a.m. this morning when he heard an unusual sound: rushing water. There is a creek nearby, but it only rushes when there are rains; normally it is placid. Arriving at the creek, he found an EBMUD employee and two other people -- one with a digital camera and one with a piece of high-tech equipment resembling a metal detector -- watching water flow from a large concrete drain into the creek.




The EBMUD employee said that the utility is draining the East Reservoir, a large, flat, enclosed reservoir that lies between Grove Way and Riverbank Avenue. The concrete-lined reservoir was built in 1954 and holds 50.4 million gallons of water. The employee said that the reservoir had not been actively used for several years. The two other individuals were there to ensure that the draining did not cause erosion in the creek.

Your Boulevardier checked the EBMUD website for information about this project, but found none. (That's where he learned the age and capacity of the reservoir.) As of 3:00 p.m. today, the flow was still going strong, as the video below shows.