Water Production Wells for Emergency Supply at City of Palo Alto's Eleanor Pardee Park and Library/Community Gardens

IEC was retained to provide design-build services, including public outreach, for two new emergency supply water wells connected to the City of Palo Alto’s water distribution system. Effective outreach and construction noticing were identified as particularly important for the success of this project, which kicked off immediately following the controversial removal of a number of mature trees in the City’s central business district. In addition to noticing and other outreach assistance, the IEC team also provided arborist, field biology, and noise control services to implement mitigation measures required by CEQA documentation previously prepared by the City. 

The well sites are highly visible to the public; one is at the City’s Main Library, adjacent to an important community garden facility, and the other is at Eleanor Pardee Park, a neighborhood park that provides children’s playgrounds, picnic areas, and an additional community garden. At both sites, community-oriented design challenges included the need to develop wellhead facilities that would blend into their surroundings and avoid introducing inappropriate “industrial” aesthetics into recreational greenspace. In addition, because of City regulations prohibiting loss of recreational lands, it was essential to minimize the above-ground footprint of the finished facilities.