Officials, creekside residents collaborate to break ground with long-term project
By Shannon Barry, Town Crier Staff Writer
 Local residents Susan Mandle and Richard Moll, above, helped organize and advocate for the Adobe Creek Watershed Group. |
The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, but 17 years? That’s how long it took for Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and county, state and federal agencies to bring to fruition a project addressing Adobe Creek erosion.
Last week’s groundbreaking on the Reach 5 creek restoration project along Fremont Road marked a major step forward – construction has begun after nearly two decades of talking, planning, starts and stops.
When government agencies failed to agree on a mutually acceptable design solution, creekside residents organized to advocate for their position. The Adobe Creek Watershed Group (ACWG) formed in 2003 to draw attention to problems of flooding, erosion and habitat loss along the creek in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.
The latest development portends a happy ending after years of work by the Santa Clara Valley Water District to develop a win-win project for everyone involved.
“We got here, and that’s extremely positive,” said Susan Mandle, Los Altos Hills resident and ACWG member.
How problems started
ACWG needed an environmentally sound plan to deal effectively with erosion problems exacerbated by the residents themselves.
Over the years, creekside homeowners constructed makeshift retaining walls, erecting wooden planking and cinderblock barriers to keep the creek from encroaching on their property.
The adverse effects of these homemade repairs often caused problems for neighbors downstream, said Jitze Couperus, ACWG facilitator.
The redirection efforts resulted in a drastic increase in the amount of water flowing down the creek.
“Everybody, in theory, is very innocently trying to take care of themselves but not realizing what the impact will be downstream,” Mandle said.
Adobe Creek drains from the northeastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains and discharges into the Palo Alto Flood Basin. The creek flows 14.7 miles through unincorporated Santa Clara County in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View and Palo Alto.
The upper portion of Reach 5, the main focus of the project, starts at the point the Edith Avenue bridge crosses the creek, then stretches downstream, where it flows under Foothill Expressway.
The Reach 5 project consists of three stages: creek channel improvements, channel bottom repairs and bank erosion repairs. The repairs should restore the creek and stabilize the banks to decrease the flow of water and erosion, as well as reduce flood risk.
Although the project directly impacts approximately 15 homes, Mandle said there are 60 households invested in the outcome.
There are a number of beneficiaries whose properties will be less prone to flooding because of the project, Couperus said.
In July 2007, after a formal public comment period on the proposed engineer’s report and associated Supplemental Environmental Impact Review, the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors approved the project.
Not in my backyard
The project suffered several false starts, including a setback in 2003, when the town of Los Altos Hills rejected the water district’s plans.
The district’s original plan required encroachment in backyards – unacceptable to property owners along the creek – in addition to the removal of approximately 100 trees along Reach 5.
Frustrated by its interaction with the town of Los Altos Hills, the water district felt its concerns went unanswered, Couperus said. The district had previously allocated money for a feasible design, but plans were rejected because the district did not obtain easement rights to the affected properties.
Thus the standoff: The water district didn’t want to move forward until it received easement rights, and residents didn’t want to proceed until they saw the design.
It took initiative from many community members to reach a tentative accord.
Nancy Couperus of the Los Altos Hills Open Space Committee seized on the availability of funding outside the water district and applied for a state grant.
Stan Williams, former CEO of the water district, persevered, working to form a collaborative among the district, residents and government agencies.
Richard Moll, Los Altos resident and ACWG member, recalled the prospect of a group effort as “remarkable,” given the players’ history.
It takes a community
In a unique model of local cooperation, the water district agreed to work with ACWG members and the cities of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills to develop a plan that would meet everyone’s needs.
Williams facilitated the first two meetings in 2003. For the next six meetings, the district hired a professional facilitator to explain how the process should proceed. After the initial meetings, Jitze Couperus assumed the role as facilitator.
Attendance at the meetings ranged from 15 to 40 residents, in addition to representatives from the two cities and federal and state agencies.
Tony Ndah, the water district’s project engineer and associate civil engineer, has been involved with the project for more than four years.
The water district oversees the project with involvement from agencies including the California Department of Fish and Game, the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
One of the key elements to the design’s eventual success was the creation of a matrix outlining creekside residents’ apprehensions. It began with 75 concerns and eventually grew to 140. The comments covered an array of input, Ndah said, ranging from the selection of materials to the number of trees removed along the creek channel.
Building a bridge
Although the water district has collaborated on projects before, its participation has rarely involved extensive outreach to residents, Ndah said.
The teamwork approach was beneficial but fraught with difficulty, Ndah said. Everyone – including water district members – faced a learning curve.
“At the time, I was not thrilled about learning,” Moll said. “On the other hand, the district probably wasn’t thrilled about teaching us. They were patient enough that they hung in there and kept working with us until we understood their point of view. … They also adapted and listened to us.”
Meetings sometimes evolved into workshops between the water district and ACWG to define and refine designs in detail, addressing aspects in terms both experts and novices could understand.
“It just took being open,” Ndah said. “There’s a sense out there that you’re the government and kind of closed. It took opening up the books a little bit and explaining these things. That got us over the hurdles.”
The different desires among the water district, residents and agencies often created conflict. For example, some residents preferred to use concrete and rock material, whereas regulatory agencies wanted more bio-friendly material for the bank repair work, Ndah said.
In the end, the collaboration allowed for a more ecologically compatible approach in its final design, Moll said.
Laying the groundwork
Construction on the restoration project includes widening the existing channel 40-50 feet and removing 1.5 feet of sediment from under the West Edith Avenue bridge.
In addition, a new 16-foot-long concrete retaining wall will be added to the existing 56-foot-long concrete wall extending downstream from the bridge on the Los Altos side, and a new 34-foot-long concrete “warped wingwall” will supplement the Los Altos Hills side to make the transition and turn the flow under the bridge into the new channel.
Preparation for construction began in January, when workers removed and relocated 67 trees to minimize disturbance to birds that nest in them seasonally. Of those, approximately two dozen were trimmed of branches and will be reused in the project. This “log slope protection” scheme minimizes erosion and reinforces the creekside.
Construction in the channel starts this month and is targeted for completion Oct. 15, when a three-year planting and maintenance phase is scheduled to begin.
The district plans to replant a mix of shrubs, grasses, herbs and ground cover in addition to 110 trees of various sizes to restore the habitat as quickly as possible. More than 400 live willow cuttings will be planted along the channel edges to stabilize the banks and offer additional revegetation.
The cost of the construction project is approximately $2 million, less than originally estimated.
Although it has taken monumental work from all constituencies to reach this point, Ndah said he expects more hurdles at the water district.
“I don’t think I’ll be resting for maybe another five years, when the channel is stable and the plants have taken on a life of their own,” Ndah said. “For me and a lot of folks out here, it’s too early to rejoice.”
The ripple effect
While work is complete for most ACWG members, some say they are having a hard time letting go and plan to monitor the project through its construction phase.
“In all these years, we’re not divorced yet, but we’re separated,” Moll said with a laugh.
All the hard work didn’t go unnoticed.
In 2007 Williams awarded ACWG with the CEO Environmental Stewardship Award. Williams recognized the group as one of nearly a dozen organizations that helped the district maintain its environmental initiatives. A Joint Community Volunteer Service Awards luncheon honored Mandle in December for her ACWG efforts.
The project stands as a testament to the community effort it takes to climb a mountain of bureaucracy.
Contact Shannon Barry at shannonb@latc.com.
