The New 5 Million Gallon Mission Trail Water Tank You’ll Never See Again – NBC 7 San Diego

A multi-million dollar construction project nears completion on a massive water reservoir in Mission Trails Regional Park. Once the construction is finished, it will probably be forgotten because no one will be able to see it.

The San Diego County Water Authority is completing construction of its brand new flow control structure at the west end of the park. Work began in earnest in early 2021 on the five million gallon water reservoir and is expected to be completed next month.

“Once this work is done, it will be underwater,” SDCWA lead engineer Aaron Trimm said as he stood inside the massive structure. “So that will be the last we see of it until we do our routine maintenance and checks on the tank.”

Outside the tank, giant earth-moving machines buried the tank in the dirt. An SDCWA spokeswoman said it will be mostly underground by mid-May. Trimm said they would start filling it with water in June. This water will eventually be delivered to SDCWA member agencies.

Once the construction equipment has been cleared, Water Resources Specialist Summer Adleberg’s team will then repopulate this area with native California plants and bushes to restore the area to its pre-construction appearance.

“Creatures using Mission Trail will come back, hikers will come back, and no one will ever know we were here,” smiled Adleberg.

The SDCWA said the tank is another one of the investments they’ve spent billions to ensure San Diego County has reliable water, even during droughts.

“We have this infrastructure here and the public won’t even know it’s there once we’re done,” Trimm concluded.

The SDCWA said it will take at least five years before the plants and brush grow enough to blend into the west of Mission Trails Regional Park.

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