Repairs To Ruptured 4-Foot Pipeline In Sonoma County Completed

Sonoma County Water Agency crews have repaired a rupture in a concrete pipe known as the Cotati Aqueduct that supplies water to several cities and communities in the county, an agency spokesman said this morning.

The water agency responded around 11:30 a.m. after the Les Petersen Drilling & Wells company ruptured the 48-inch concrete pipe Monday morning while drilling a well near the intersection of Vine Hill Road and Vine Hill School Road in the Forestville area, agency spokesman Brad Sherwood said.

The pipe serves Forestville, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, the North Marin Water District and the Marin Municipal Water District. Sherwood said.

An estimated 610,000 gallons leaked from the pipe and was drained from it for repairs, Sherwood said.

There was no interruption of service because stored water was available during the repairs, Sherwood said.

The pipe was buried eight feet underground with the top of it four feet below the surface. Some of the water leaked into an otherwise dry tributary to Green Valley Creek and additional water was released into a dry tributary about two miles from Green Valley Creek.

The water that was released was de-chlorinated, Sherwood said.

The potential impacts to fish and wildlife in the area and Green Valley Creek are being monitored, he said.

Repairs were completed this morning and the pipe will be back in operation by mid-afternoon, Sherwood said.

--Bay City News