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Health & Fitness

Mountain View Cemetery's Management of the Reservoirs on the Property

Commentary from 94611.

Mountain View Cemetery is located at the uphill end of Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue; the southern boundary of the Cemetery touches the City of Piedmont, along Moraga Avenue. Cemetery Creek runs through the cemetery property, feeding three reservoirs along the way. As stunningly beautiful and as well maintained as the Cemetery is, there is a question as to the manner in which the Cemetery handles the flow of water through the creek and the reservoirs.

Here’s a brief overview of the water flow. Upstream from the cemetery, the creek is undergrounded through Blair Park. Entering the cemetery, the creek emerges from the western boundary of Coaches’ Field into what was, until recently, a small pond or wetland area. From there, it courses through the three reservoirs, each reservoir by secured by an earthen dam on the western boundary of the reservoir.

Downstream from the cemetery and into Oakland, the creek emerges as Glen Echo Creek. Largely undergrounded, the creek surfaces in areas between Linda Avenue and Monte Vista Avenue, and near Moss Way. It then surfaces in Oak Glen Park, just west of MacArthur Boulevard. From there, it is once again underground, emerging near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Harrison Street, ultimately emptying into Lake Merritt.

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The Cemetery’s reservoirs host resident and visiting wildlife populations, notably many species of birds, the Western Pond Turtle, and amphibians. The cemetery uses water from the reservoirs for irrigation. Every summer, as now, the Cemetery management drains the reservoirs to within an inch of their life, a shocking sight, particularly when it’s done so precipitously. This drainage is apparently done in order to eke out the last available amount of water for irrigation. Thereafter, the cemetery draws from EBMUD water for irrigation. The upper most area of the watershed, just west of Coaches Field has also been largely drained. This upper area did not hold a large volume of water, but it did support a rich a rich and beautiful wetland site, critical for local amphibians.

The reservoirs and wetland areas associated with Cemetery Creek can be managed in different ways. One way is to operate them in a strictly utilitarian manner, serving an irrigation function, blind to environmental consequences. Another way is to operate them in a manner mindful of an opportunity to respect the biological habitat, and to steward and foster the plant and animal life that could be supported by these resources.

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Handling water flow through the reservoirs in an environmentally respectful way does not exclude using the water for irrigation. Indeed, it seems that the only real change that might be needed would be to cross over to EBMUD water a month or so earlier than current practice, thus maintaining an appropriate water level in the reservoirs.

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