Sunol Recapture Facility

The SFPUC has finalized a project to recapture stream flows released from Calaveras Reservoir and bypassed around the Alameda Creek Diversion Dam as part of steelhead trout restoration and mitigations for the Calaveras Dam project. The recapture project has evolved from a proposed rubber dam in the Sunol Valley to proposed construction of an infiltration gallery under Alameda Creek, to the current project: passive water recapture through a quarry pit in the Sunol Valley. The SFPUC will recapture water that percolates into the Sunol Groundwater Basin, by pumping it out of quarry Pit-F2 into San Antonio Reservoir or the Sunol Water Treatment Plant.

The project represents an improvement over previous project designs and avoids construction impacts to Alameda Creek. The SFPUC has addressed concerns about potential project impacts on surface flows in Alameda Creek, and on fish passage and aquatic habitat in the Sunol Valley and Niles Canyon.