Water Main Break Closes Residential Street In Orinda

ORINDA (CBS SF) -- A water main break in Orinda Monday morning has shut down a residential street, according to East Bay MUD officials.

The break in a 12-inch cast iron main was reported at 8:43 a.m. in the area of Glorietta Boulevard and Daryl Drive, East Bay MUD representative Tracie Morales-Noisy said.

An EBMUD investigator arrived on site at 9 a.m. with crews waiting for utility lines to be marked before commencing with emergency repairs.

East Bay MUD officials said there was a report of property damage to two homes. Footage shot by Chopper 5 showed flooding in the backyard of one home, though there were no reports of damage to the interiors of  homes.

EBMUD's Risk Management Office is in contact with the property owners.

"The middle of the street has punched up a foot with water surging out," said John Kenny, whose home flooded. "It was pretty crazy; thought it was the beginning of 40 days and nights!"

It took about an hour to shut off the water. By that time, it had dug a hole under the pavement about 5 feet deep.

East Bay MUD later determined that a 20-foot section of the transmission line required repairs. Crews began repairs at about 4 p.m.

Glorietta Boulevard will remain closed from Overhill Road to Daryl Drive as repairs extend into the Monday evening commute. Detours around the closure are located on Hillcrest Drive and Daryl Drive.

As crews worked to replace the 20-foot-long section of the 12-inch pipe, resident Ted Fleischman – whose property also was flooded by the break – recalled the same thing happening 19 years ago.

"Yeah, the hundred year flood is happening every 19 years because of East Bay…uh, MUD," said Fleischman.

But EBMUD pointed out the cast iron pipe that failed was installed in 1948 and half its pipelines are over 50 years old. The utility said it averages three water main breaks each day.

"Our system is aging," said Morales-Noisy.  "It's come to the end of its life cycle and this is a community investment that we all need to make."

By "investment" the agency mean rate hikes. A seven percent increase will begin on July 1st, but that will be a drop in a very leaky bucket for what is really needed.

The district has 4,200 miles of pipeline, but can only replace about 10 miles each year. They're hoping to raise enough money to increase that to 40 miles per year.

Initially, many customers were out of water, but East Bay MUD crews were able to isolate the repair location in a way that restored water service back to customers.