Bayside Facility

EBMUD held a virtual community meeting for the Bayside Facility on June 13, 2024. View the recording of the meeting below:

Facility Update June 2024: EBMUD has leased the Bayside Groundwater Facility property at 2655 Grant Avenue in San Lorenzo from Oro Loma Sanitary District since 1997. As the lease comes to an end, EBMUD plans to remove all District-owned equipment and structures from the property. Demolition is tentatively scheduled to begin in late Fall 2024 and will take approximately two months to complete. A notice will be sent prior to this demolition work.​​​​

Water for future droughts

Groundwater can provide water during prolonged drought

Groundwater can provide water during prolonged drought

The Bayside Facility was developed as a supplemental source of water supply to help protect EBMUD’s 1.4 million customers against severe water rationing in the event of a prolonged extreme drought or emergency. The permanent facility taps into local groundwater resources to supplement supply needs and will only be used in an extreme drought or during an emergency, when EBMUD is looking for any and all sources of supplemental water supply.

The Bayside Facility recharges this natural storage basin by adding water to the aquifer in wet years. EBMUD has not yet needed to extract from Bayside to meet potable water demands due to new supplemental supplies. Any new sources of water added into EBMUD’s system, including water from Bayside, will meet or exceed all State and Federal requirements.

EBMUD has a diversified water supply portfolio that includes evaluating groundwater to improve resiliency to changing climate and regulations. This portfolio also includes conservation, water recycling, and acquisition of other imported supplemental supplies.

Facility description

The Bayside Facility was constructed in 2009. Testing was completed at the end of the first year of operation of the Phase 1 facility. The facility can inject up to 1 million gallons a day (MGD) of surplus drinking water into the underground sand layers of the basin during wet years. During droughts, it can deliver an average of 1 million gallons a day (MGD) of water to EBMUD customers. All extracted water would be treated and tested to meet state and federal drinking water requirements. EBMUD continues to partner with the U.S. Geological Survey to monitor that the Facility is geologically sound.

Planning began in 2001. The Environmental Impact Report was approved by the EBMUD Board of Directors in November 2005. The project's construction was completed in 2009.

Future Phases

After successfully operating the Facility for some time, EBMUD will consider development of a larger facility in the local area that would have a storage capacity of 2 to 10 MGD, providing even greater drought resilience. The larger facility development would first be subjected to the same environmental and public review as the first project, and EBMUD will review results of the groundwater monitoring system and "Extensometer", which measures minute changes in ground surface elevation.

The Bayside Groundwater Facility is but one of many ways EBMUD explores bringing greater water supply reliability to the District's ratepayers during drought, emergency, or for everyday needs.

Monitoring Data & Reports 

USGS Report on Extensometer (2015) 
https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ds890
 

USGS Extensometer & Piezometer Data
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/si

Type Depth, feet below ground surface USGS Site Number USGS Site Name
Extensometer 598 374004122092001 003S003W14K015M
Extensometer 980

374005122092001

003S003W14K016M
Piezometer 1,010*

374004122092101

003S003W14K017
Piezometer 860 374004122092102 003S003W14K018M
Piezometer 640

374004122092103

003S003W14K019M8
Piezometer 318 374004122092104

003S003W14K020M

Piezometer 138

374004122092105

003S003W14K021M

Piezometer 45 374004122092106 003S003W14K022M

 

Well ID CASGEM Well ID

MW-1

51410

MW-2s

50317

MW-2i

50318

MW-3

50319

MW-4

50320

MW-5s

50321

MW-5i

50322

MW-5d

50323

MW-6

50324

MW-7

51411

MW-8d

50325

MW-9s

50326

MW-9i

50327

MW-9d

50328

MW-10s

50329

MW-10i

 

50330

 

MW-10d 50331

 

Environmental Impact Reports

Contact 

Email: Baysidefacility@ebmud.com

Phone: 510-287-7013

Emergencies or after-hours, call EBMUD at 866-403-2683.