Storm Digs Up Gas Main; Whale Rock Spills

The company was able to isolate the pipeline, “out of an abundance of caution,” Paul said, “and is mitigating potential service disruptions to customers by temporarily connecting the pipeline to other natural gas infrastructure.”

By NEIL FARRELL for Morro Bay Life

Arecent storm unearthed a natural gas pipeline in Cayucos running parallel to the beach, prompting an emergency response from maintenance crews.

According to Brittany Paul, a spokeswoman with Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), “At approximately 11 p.m. on Sunday, March 12, SoCalGas crews responded to reports of an exposed natural gas pipeline near Morro Strand State Beach in Cayucos.”

She said a maintenance crew discovered that a 6-inch gas pipeline “that has become exposed due to heavy rainfall and soil erosion. The pipeline is not damaged and there are no reports of customer outages.”

That pipeline is buried under the bluff of Studio Drive and delivers gas to customers up the coast. The exposed area is near the 24th Street Beach Access.

With repair crews working on the issue, a large crane was brought in, placed on standby and remained there the whole day after the storm. Paul said they ended up not needing the crane, as the pipeline wasn’t damaged.

SoCalGas issued an alert to its North Coast customers: “Customers in Cayucos, Cambria, and San Simeon are encouraged to conserve natural gas usage to prevent service disruptions.”

The company issued several tips on how to conserve gas:

• Lower furnace thermostats by 5 to 8 degrees if health permits;

• Wash and rinse clothes in cold water; Reduce the temperature on water heaters or set it at 120 degrees

• Take shorter hot showers.

If readers experience a natural gas service disruption, they should contact SoCalGas at 1-800-427-2200. And don’t try to restore gas service to your home if it gets interrupted.

As for the pipeline, Paul said, the company “will assess the pipeline, including the length of the exposure, and make modifications when weather conditions improve, the area around the pipeline becomes safe to work in, and approvals have been secured from permitting agencies.”

The gas line was one of several issues that hit Cayucos with that March 10-12 storm. The Whale Rock Reservoir poured over the spillway for the first time in nearly two decades.

The reservoir, which was completed in 1961 and is used as a drinking water source for the members of the Whale Rock Commission, reached capacity March 10 and began pouring a river over the spillway, as runoff swelled the earthen dam reservoir. It is now completely full to its 38,967-acre feet of water at some 216 feet deep. Whale Rock collects water from a 20.3-square-mile watershed.

It was originally built to dam up Old Creek, which empties into the reservoir on the eastern side. Old Creek emerges again below the dam running out to the beach, and also carries the spillway water away. In wet winters like this, Old Creek can break through to the ocean, which presents a degree of safety concerns for people walking the beach.

Caltrans is in the midst right now of replacing the northbound Highway 1 bridge over Old Creek, a multimillion dollar replacement project that’s had to deal with the series of storms that have hit the area since the beginning of last November but have been heaviest since early January.

Also, a hillside below the dam and above the town cemetery sustained a rockslide, leaving a scar in the otherwise plush green hill. The rock fall reportedly didn’t cause damage.

On March 10, an evacuation alert was issued for people living downstream of the dam in the pre-storm preparations heading into the weekend of March 10-12.

Whale Rock isn’t the only local body of water to reach capacity. Santa Margarita Lake (the Salinas Dam) is also spilling over into the Salinas River and Lake Lopez too was having water released downstream to Arroyo Grande Creek.

Whale Rock spilling over hasn’t happened since the winter of 200405, and its only done it 12 times since 1961, according to the Whale Rock Commission website.

The reservoir and the Whale Rock pipeline facilities are operated by the Whale Rock Commission — comprised of the City of SLO, Camp San Luis, and CMC — with the city overseeing a three-man crew. Whale Rock also pipes water to a treat - ment plant located on a frontage road between the cemetery and Hwy 1. That reverse osmosis plant produces drinking water for Cayucos and is run by the county.

The Whale Rock crew maintains 13 miles of fenceline, 1,400 acres of open space, the dam structure and monitoring instrumentation, two pumping stations, and 18 miles of 30-inch diameter reinforced pipeline that ultimately delivers water to a City of SLO water treatment plant located off Highway 1 west of Cal Poly.

ATASCADERO — Since

Tuesday, March 14, Highway 41/Morro Road has been closed due to fallen trees and a mudslide. Currently, the road closure affects both directions of the highway from Los Altos to San Gabriel Roads, which resides predominantly close to Atascadero, closest to Highway 101.

Roughly a 3-mile stretch, the highway was expected to reopen last weekend (March 25-26) if weather and clearing of the trees and mud permitted. According to CalTrans District 5, crews removed an estimated 6,000 yards of dirt from the slide and needed to cut and remove another 10,000 yards of slope. Aside from trees and mud, rocks and boulders needed to be moved and the hillside stabilized.

Fortunately, there are alternative routes that could be utilized in the meantime. Drivers were able to use Highway 46 to connect to Highway 101 and Highway 1. As of March 23, Caltrans has not released a reopening date.

By NEIL FARRELL for Morro Bay Life

The Morro Bay City Council was expected to appoint an interim city manager at its