Photograph by Kathy De La Toree

Curt Rayer, operations maintenance supervisor for San Jose Water Company, climbs an embankment that used to be the floor of Lexington Reservoir after checking on the status of the divers repairing a water line.

Low water at reservoir not yet a concern

By Nathan R. Huff

Remember the brown grass, short showers and perpetually dirty cars of the 1980s? As mountain residents and Highway 17 commuters have noticed for months, the water level in Lexington Reservoir appears to be decreasing daily. However, local water officials say that, despite the dry winter so far, the seemingly empty reservoir is not yet a cause for concern.

Meanwhile, the low water level is making it possible for the San Jose Water Co. and the Santa Clara Valley Water District to complete long-awaited repairs.

Dave Hook, dam engineer for the water district, said the reservoir has been this low before, for instance in 1988, when the district drained nearly the entire reservoir to construct a new intake after built-up sediment began affecting the old structure.

Hook said the reservoir's low water level this year is due in part to the dry winter and in part to the district's yearly release patterns. The district releases extra water during the summer and fall months to make room for winter rains.

"It's part of our normal cycle," Hook said. "Not only do we let it out to make room for rain, we let it out because we're using it."

District work crews can be seen near the dam's intake valves, where they are replacing a position indicator. The indicators are connected to the hydraulically operated intake valves, which control water release. Hook said one of the two position indicators stopped working several years ago. Although the problem was not too serious, the district decided now was as good a time as any to replace the indicator, he said.

"It's kind of like a speedometer on a car," Hook explained. "You don't need it, but it's good to have."

The district's crews are not working alone. San Jose Water Co. has its own project under way at the reservoir. It's repairing an old water line which runs under the reservoir. The pipe collects water flowing down Los Gatos Creek from the company's Lake Elsman reservoir, as well as water from other small creeks.

Andrew Gere, a company spokesman, said the 46-year-old pipe has a small leak, and the company has hired an underwater repair service to patch the pipe. The low water level has made the divers' work easier, but getting their dive barge into the lake required a crane.

Gere also said that although the Lake Elsman water level is approaching the minimum level maintained by the company, there is no real drought concern at this time.

"One of the things kind of nice about having several wet years is that the district has brought the groundwater level up quite high," Gere said. He added that San Jose Water Co. has outside water sources, too.

During wet winters, the water company can run its Montevina treatment plant entirely from the runoff from local creeks. In years with less precipitation, the company releases water from Lake Elsman into Los Gatos Creek before picking it back up and transporting it to the Montevina plant.

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