Rinconada Water Treatment Plant

CDM Smith and the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) contracted DD&A to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a broad range of improvements to the Rinconada Water Treatment Plant, a large treatment plant with a capacity of 80 million gallons per day, located in Los Gatos, California. DD&A also assisted SCVWD in providing outreach to the community to identify design, environmental, and other concerns. The proposed improvements were intended to ensure reliability of the plant’s operation and meet stringent drinking water standards. The project required the systematic tear down of much of the existing steel and concrete structures to reconstruct a new state-of-the-art water treatment facility on the site, while keeping the plant running at all times.

The EIR addressed the environmental impacts of the improvements resulting primarily from phased construction of the treatment plant over a period of five to seven years. DD&A prepared the technical biological resources report for the project, which was incorporated into the EIR. The biological resources report evaluated impacts to sensitive habitats (valley oak woodland and potentially jurisdictional wetlands) and special-status species (San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat and western pond turtle), and provided a detailed program of avoidance and mitigation measures. In addition, the EIR focused on air quality, use of hazardous materials, noise, traffic, potential growth-inducing effects. DD&A also prepared a detailed MMRP for the project.