EBMUD water spills into creek, yards without warning

Oakland Tribune, Aug 7, 2008 by Aaron Morrison

When Scott Loughran-Smith left for a family vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the creek that runs parallel to his Lafayette home was bone dry.

When he returned several days later, that creek was flowing as though a snow pack was melting from the hills of Lafayette.

East Bay Municipal Utility District officials confirmed last week that work was being done to repair a three-inch hole in a main water pipe near the Loughran-Smiths' Palomares Avenue home. Clean water was pumped from the pipe -- allowing workers to work underground -- and diverted through the

Loughran-Smiths' and their neighbors' creek, which typically flows only during storms.

EBMUD officials have been wrapping up four pipe repair jobs in the area. The only way to do the work, EBMUD engineering director Xavier Irias said, was to allow for some of the water to escape. What the Loughran-Smiths and their neighbors saw was the "relatively small portion we couldn't save," Irias said.

"We did in fact save most of the pipe's water -- the pipe is miles long -- letting it flow into our treatment plants and reservoirs while the pipe was still emptying," Irias added.

EBMUD spokesman Charles Hardy estimated the water flowed at 40 gallons per minute through the Lafayette neighborhood. Scott didn't buy that number.

"You figure that old toilets at the homes here are six-gallon," he said. "If that was a small portion that they can write off, then they do have a serious problem on their hands."

Loughran-Smith said that instead of hearing of the diversion from an EBMUD official, a neighbor told him.

"Is an explanation, perhaps a public notification prior to the waste, so far out of line?" Scott asked.

After calling the water company and finding out the water was indeed EBMUD's, Scott grew concerned.

Frustrated by highly publicized EBMUD water leaks amid urgent calls for customers to conserve during the summer drought, he then had an idea.

He tethered a sump pump to a stake adjacent to the creek's culvert and pumped water to his thirtsy redwood trees.

"I'm not going to let the water go to waste. I'm going to use some of it," he said. "I actually got a nasty little note from a neighbor because I had the hose running."

In response to the neighbor's note, Scott made a sign from a square piece of scrap wood and placed it under his mailbox.

"Free Water From Another EBMUD Water Leak," the sign read.

Underneath those words, he numbered and crossed off each day he had been using the water streaming through his property. The water ran for 8 or 9 days, Scott said.

Irias said EBMUD knocked on doors as work was being done.

Scott said his neighbors hadn't gotten the word. "Nobody knew anything," he said. "Unless everyone was not home at the same time, there wasn't much of an effort" to reach them.

EBMUD engineers were aware of where the diverted water was going, but Irias says notices are normally sent out to residents only if work requires service interruption or property obstruction.

"If we think there is going to be impact, we'll give them a heads up," Irias said. "If you have a main break that is spilling water all over, we'll let people know what our claims process is."

There was no visible erosion to the Loughran-Smiths' dirt-lined storm creek. The neighbors across the street have brick lining in their storm creek. There was also debris along the creek that no one has offered to clean up, Scott said.

EBMUD sent letters to customers detailing a recommended use reduction amount -- 24 percent, to avoid stricter drought conditions next summer and surcharges if new water allotments are not obeyed.

After watching the gallons spill through his property, Scott is not sure conservation on the part of customers should be the water company's message.

"Perhaps every drop should be accounted for," he said.

Aaron Morrison can be reached at 925-943-8326 or amorrison@bayareanewsgroup.com.