Project To Protect Bay Area Drinking Water From Wildfires To Begin

BELMONT, CA — In an effort to protect the drinking water source for one million Bay Area residents from destructive wildfires, crews will soon work to masticate vegetation on Maple Way around watershed lands.

In collaboration with Cal Fire, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who oversees the SFPUC Peninsula Watershed, will hire contractors to mulch vegetation into small pieces. Reducing the size of vegetation growth will limit the risk of extreme fire around the watershed, the Edgewood County Park and surrounding private property, said Cal Fire.

"We are really excited about this project because it is a team effort involving several different agencies working together to do what's best to protect this community. We are ready to get started on this project," said CAL FIRE Vegetation Management Forester, Sarah Collamer, in a statement.

The 23,000-acre watershed is responsible for providing roughly one million residents in San Mateo County and San Francisco with clean drinking water, sourced from three reservoirs.

"An uncontrolled fire here could impact the drinking water for almost one million people and threaten the communities that surround us," stated SFPUC General Manager Dennis Herrera. "We appreciate our partnership with CAL FIRE to help protect these lands from the threat of wildfire."

Cal Fire said residents may be impacted by traffic and noise from the project during work hours as crews begin the project, and it's expected to last a few weeks.

Copyright © 2022 Bay City News, Inc., By Olivia Wynkoop, Bay City News Foundation