Mokelumne Aqueducts Interconnection Project

EBMUD is improving its water transmission system by improving the reliability of our aqueducts which deliver from the water source in the Sierra foothills to the East Bay.

The District is planning to construct pipeline interconnections between EBMUD's Mokelumne Aqueducts in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where the aqueducts are most vulnerable to damage and failure. Connecting the three aqueducts would allow EBMUD to maximize water transmission capacity to East Bay customers after a seismic or other catastrophic event, reducing the risk of water service interruptions.

Currently, the Mokelumne Aqueducts do not have any interconnections along their 82-mile length, and each aqueduct is operated independently. The aqueduct system is vulnerable to levee failure and flooding in the Delta that may occur because of flooding, weakness in the existing levee system, or seismic events. The two oldest aqueducts, which have not been seismically retrofitted, are also vulnerable to structural failures during large seismic events near the Delta.

EBMUD will install underground valves and piping at the Stockton and Bixler Interconnection sites on the eastern side of the Delta near I-5 and at EBMUD's Bixler Yard located on the western side of the Delta, adjacent to Orwood Road, near Brentwood. In Walnut Creek, EBMUD will install two new above-ground valves near EBMUD's Walnut Creek Treatment Plant.

The two additional surge control facilities, which protect the pipelines from failure due to sudden pumping plant shutdowns, will be located at EBMUD's Bixler Pumping Plant facility on Orwood Road near Brentwood and at San Joaquin River Wasteway Facility in Stockton.