Save Palo Alto's Groundwater!

RE-SCHEDULED due to STRONG PUBLIC INTEREST  to 7:50 PM Monday, August 17, 2020, but may be a bit earlier or later depending on Council deliberations on earlier items.  This is expected to be the first item on the Action Item Agenda and we expect it will be heard near the planned time.

Please Comment either by joining the meeting remotely (phone 1(669)900-6833 / Zoom meeting ID 362 027 238  ) or by sending e-mail to city.council@cityofpaloalto.org.

The Palo Alto City Council will decide on Aug. 17th on the neighbors’ appeal of the Development Department’s approval of a two story house with a large, deep basement at 2353 Webster.  Construction of this basement, as proposed, risks damage and possibly death from dewatering and root damage to the 300+ year old legally protected Continue reading →

RE-SCHEDULED due to STRONG PUBLIC INTEREST  to 7:50 PM (new time) Monday, August 17, 2020, but may be a bit earlier or later depending on Council deliberations on earlier items.  This is expected to be the first item on the Public Agenda and we expect it will be heard near the planned time.

Please Comment either by joining the meeting remotely (phone 1(669)900-6833 / Zoom meeting ID 362 027 238  ) or by sending e-mail to city.council@cityofpaloalto.org.

The Palo Alto City Council will decide on Aug. 17th on the neighbors’ appeal of the Development Department’s approval of a two story house with a large, deep basement at 2353 Webster.  Construction of this basement, as proposed, risks damage and possibly death to the 300+ year old legally protected oak tree at the back of the property.

See the original blog entry.
Please comment!

300+ year old heritage oak, 2353 Webster, Palo Alto threatened by construction dewatering

We need your help immediately!  On Monday, August 17, 7:30 PM (but may be earlier or later), Palo Alto City Council (rescheduled from this week) will decide on the neighbors’ appeal of the Development Department’s approval of a two story house with a large, deep basement at 2353 Webster.  Construction of this basement, as proposed, risks damage and possibly death to the 300+ year old legally protected oak tree at the back of the property.

Comment either by joining the meeting remotely (phone 1(669)900-6833 / Zoom meeting ID 362 027 238  ) or by sending e-mail to city.council@cityofpaloalto.org.

The construction of the proposed 10-foot deep basement at this location, where the groundwater level is high, would necessitate dewatering, the pumping out of groundwater Continue reading →

For all those who have been asking for a link to Dr. Kristina Hill’s talk, “Planning for Rising Waters: Sea Level, Groundwater and the Bay Edge” held on April 24^th, here it is!

Many, many thanks to Maury Green for recording and editing this presentation and allowing us to share with a larger audience all the insights from Dr. Hill’s talk. Don’t miss the many thoughtful comments and questions from the fully engaged audience towards the end of the video. The presentation slides, courtesy of Dr. Hill,  are available for download here.

And thank you again to our excellent speaker, Prof. Hill, U. C. Berkeley, who was very generous with her time and knowledge, to the City of Palo Alto for its unflagging interest and support, and to all our other sponsors and volunteers for their financial support and personal commitment to making this a well-attended and successful event.

Experts previously believed the West Coast would have a few more years to see the impacts of climate change.  With the recent wildfires and with the west Antarctic ice sheet collapse, they now say there’s a sense of urgency for us to respond to climate change.  That includes sea level rise and the more recently recognized groundwater level rise that occurs as the sea level rises.  Levees do not protect us from groundwater rise; groundwater comes from stormwater and drains to the Bay.  This groundwater flow protects us from saltwater intrusion.  We hope Dr. Hill’s presentation encourages residents, policy makers, developers and other interested parties to take into account groundwater level rise as well as sea level rise when planning  current and future construction.

Thank you all who attended Professor Kristina Hill’s presentation on the 24th! She is a terrific speaker; we had over 200 attendees and plenty of questions. For those of you who missed it, the presentation (download here) was videotaped and we will post the link to the video as soon as it’s available.

Main takeaways from this presentation:

• Palo Alto and other Bay Area cities are very vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise, with significant impacts likely within the next 20 years.
• Ground water will rise with sea level rise, leading to significant ground water inundation risks well inland from Highway 101.
• Levees are not effective against groundwater rise.
• Possible solutions include digging ponds and canals and placing housing on pontoons in these water bodies.

But wait, Earth Week is not over yet! There are two upcoming water events we recommend:

1. “Thirsty for Justice: The Struggle for the Human Right to Water” Saturday, April 27, 5 – 7 pm, Los Altos Library, Orchard Room, 13 S. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos, CA

2. Former Palo Alto mayor and environmentalist Peter Drekmeier speaking on “Local Water Supply and Conservation” Saturday, May 4th, noon – 3:30, Holbrook Palmer Park , 150 Watkins Ave., Atherton https://www.ci.atherton.ca.us/463/Earth-Day

It’s never too late to celebrate Mother Earth and life-giving water!