East Bay Water Supply

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East Bay Water Supply
East Bay Municipal Utility District services large areas of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, including the city of Albany (Water Resources Planning Division, 2011). To accommodate a population of 1.3 million customers, EBMUD obtains its water supply from the Comanche and Pardee Reservoirs in the Sierra, as well as over 160 local reservoirs and neighborhood tanks (EBMUD, 2012). Both large reservoirs are in the Mokelumne River Watershed, accounting for approx. 90 percent of the water used on average by EBMUD. The other 10 percent is collected from local runoff from various East Bay watersheds (EBMUD, 2011). The Mokelumne watershed collects its water supply from over 600 square miles of mountains and foothills in the Sierra Nevada, with the highest headwater region reaching to 10,000 feet in elevation (Water Resources Planning Division, 2011). Snow melt contributes to the Mokelumne River runoff, coming from areas of Alpine, Amador, and Calaveras counties.This runoff is controlled by reservoir storage options, originally being collected by EBMUD in the Pardee Reservoir. A part of this water is then carried through the Mokelumne Aqueducts to the EBMUD service area, and the rest is released into the Camanche Reservoir (Water Resources and Planning Division, 2011). Raw water from the reservoir is transported roughly 90 miles to EBMUD Water Treatment Plants and terminal reservoirs. Starting in the 2.2 mile Pardee Tunnel, the water goes through the three 82-mile long steel pipelines of the Mokelumne Aqueducts until it reaches Walnut Creek. The two Lafayette Aqueducts carry the water to three in-line filtration Water Treatment Plants or to a terminal reservoir (EBMUD 2011).
There are five EBMUD terminal reservoirs ...

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Works Cited

Diemer, Dennis M. 2009. Alternative Water Supply and Drinking Water System Operations: Preparation for Climate Change Adaptation. East Bay Municipal Utility District. p. 1-4.

EBMUD. 2012. East Bay Water: A Status Report on Local Water Use & Water Supplies. East Bay Municipal Utility District. p. 8-9.

EBMUD. 2013. . Nov. 14, 2013.

Freeport Regional Water Project. 2013. . Nov. 15, 2013.

National Geographic. 2013. . Nov. 14, 2013.

Water Resources Planning Division. 2011. Urban Water Management Plan. East Bay Municipal Utility District. p. 10-26.

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