April 29, 2004

AYA Sports Fields update: Well testing begins in Almaden
Community meeting addresses concerns, complaints

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

Almaden residents assembled at Leland High School Monday evening to meet with the city project management team and discuss plans for well testing at the proposed sports field complex site, scheduled to start on Tuesday and end on Friday.

“Questions have been raised about this project that have led us to the types of tests and analysis that are necessary to determine whether or not there might be an impact,” said Stephen Haase, Director of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

Haase, along with Water District representative Dave Chesterman, Principal Planner and Project Manager Stan Ketchum, Doug Brown with EBF Consultants, Senior Project Geologist Leonardo Alvarez, and Dr, June Oberdorfer, Principal Consultant were on hand to explain the technical expertise involved in conducting accurate tests that will determine potential water quality and availability, including water level drops in neighboring wells.

Based on letters received by concerned residents, Haase spoke of the need to “re-engage in the process,” and deal with the issues that were identified by various parties. The city then went about the task of hiring consultants to address concerns.

Although approximately 50 residents within a 2,000 square-foot radius were sent notices, only eight residents attended the meeting and blamed the low turnout on the advance notification of the test—or lack thereof, claiming that they had either just received it, or not at all.

“This isn’t a good representation of the community,” exclaimed George Stepanenko. “You’ve given the residents no notice.”

“When did you know about this test?” asked Carol Hallett, who lives near the proposed site. “And why now? Why not during the dry months, when the levels are lower?

“If we had to do it over again, certainly we would have noticed sooner than we did,” explained Haase. “But our purpose tonight was to explain how we’ve crafted this test so there won’t be an impact. And if there might be one, which we don’t anticipate, what safety measures and backups we have in place. We scheduled this meeting because one or two of you asked for it.”

According to the consultants, the test date was chosen because water levels are higher this time of year, producing minimal effects to the wells in the vicinity. The data collected will then be entered into the model to determine more accurate results for varying times of year, based on historical geological information, including temperature extremes and rainfall averages.

Haase explained that testing and data collection is standard under the law, and the city’s responsibility is to make sure, based on those tests and their professional judgment, that they would not have an impact on the project. “It is very conceivable that this model will predict that if we were to plan for 12 fields with sod, there will be an impact,” he added. “That would not necessarily be the best project perhaps for the city to contemplate, because of the impact to the property owners. This helps us to make that type of projection.”

The meeting didn’t seem to do much in the way of calming fears that resident’s wells might go dry. In an effort to ease concerns, Dr. Orberdorfer tried to illustrate the varying levels of water pockets in the underground water table, saying that many would not be impacted by the test at all. “It’s a real typical mix of many ground water aquifers in the area,” she said.

Additional observations will focus on the effects, if any the test will have on the creek—another environmental concern. “We won’t know that until we start pumping on the well,” Orberdorfer added.

Probably the biggest concern remains the time allocated to the testing, and why additional time wasn’t factored in to assess more accurate, long-term data—leaving them to feel that the Environmental Impact Report [EIR] timeline is playing a bigger role in the decision.

“If money were no object, we would prefer longer baseline testing over 2-3 years,” Haase admitted. “Clearly, longer is better, but we feel we will have good data on how the model is going to work after this.”

“Even the experts have said that the thing they need the most to make this tests really viable is more time,” observed Hallett. “And they don’t have it, because of the time frame being set by the City Council to get the EIR out. They seem to be in a hurry. If it really needs more time, we should give it more time.”

The purpose of the 72-hour test is to collect data for the EIR on the existing groundwater aquifer, which will then be used to calibrate the computer model in an effort to more accurately predict groundwater conditions and fluctuations caused by irrigation at the project site.

“We have been monitoring two wells at the site,” added Haase. “And looking at how the aquifer performs over time. We feel obligated to do our very best to model that so we can do our responsibility under the law. We need to know how this could perform should there be pumping for irrigation purposes.”

On Monday, the existing pump on the Caglia well was removed and replaced with test pump equipment. A two-inch pipeline was connected to transmit water from the test out to a culvert under McKean Road, following a natural drainage pattern for the area. During the 72-hour test, water will be pumped at a rate of 50-gallons per minute in an effort to “stress” the well and record data on stream flow and ground water levels. Over the weekend, consultants will monitor the rate of ground water recovery, and then restore the well to full operation. Although no significant problems are anticipated, two monitoring wells located approximately 1,000 feet from the test well will also be monitored in an effort to determine whether the test should be halted before it impacts neighboring residents, using a five-foot drop in the water level as an indicator to stop the test.

As of press time on Wednesday, testing, according to Ketchum was proceeding without incident. “As of this morning, there is no noticeable reduction in the ground water at the two monitoring wells,” he said. “We didn’t expect to see any. We’re doing our best to monitor the progress of the test on a regular basis and it will be part of the EIR publication sometime in mid August.”