Padre Dam Wins Awards for Resevoir Retrofit

Municipal Water District received two awards recently for a retrofit done to their Mountain Top Reservoir in the rugged hills of East County.

They were given the 2010 Project of the Year Award from the San Diego & Imperial County chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) and the 2010 Award of Merit in Water Treatment by the San Diego Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The more than $2.5 million project included tearing down the deteriorating wooden roof and replacing it with an innovative aluminum roof, improvement of the pool structure and seismic retrofitting.

According to Padre Dam, "the improvements allow the reservoir to maintain regulatory compliance, improve local water reliability and quality, extend its service life for several decades, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

The awards were given because of the minimal cost and minimal impact to the environment and neighborhood. According to Padre Dam, opting to retrofit instead of demolishing and re-building saved the District approximately $500,000 and reduced construction-related impacts. Trips to the site will be reduced as a result of the aluminum roof, making it cost-effective and less harmful to the environment, the district said.

The resevoir stores 2.4 million gallons and provides potable water to the Crest and La Cresta Heights communities. This retrofit is one of five that are being performed on Padre Dam reservoirs.

The San Diego Imperial Counties APWA Chapter annually recognizes outstanding individuals, and projects who have demonstrated discipline, vision, and passion, and the outstanding projects that service the public and make a difference in our quality of life. Padre Dam received the Project of the Year Award at a luncheon on May 12.

ASCE is the largest engineering society in America with local sections throughout the country. The local San Diego section hosts an annual awards dinner in May of each year to present awards. Padre Dam received this award at an awards banquet on May 14.