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Contra Costa Water District outlines canal replacement plan that would bury Contra Costa Canal across Antioch
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Summary
CCWD presented a multi‑billion‑dollar, phased program to replace the aging open Contra Costa Canal with buried pipeline sections to improve safety, water quality and reliability; CCWD plans field geotechnical work starting in fall and a programmatic EIR with construction targeted to begin in 2032, subject to funding and permitting.
Contra Costa Water District officials briefed the Antioch City Council on March 24 on a long‑term Contra Costa Canal replacement program that would progressively replace the open canal with enclosed, buried pipeline segments.
CCWD Vice President Antonio Martinez and General Manager Rachel Murphy said the canal, built in the 1930s and now largely concrete‑lined, presents four principal risks: life‑safety hazards to people accessing the open canal, seasonal water‑quality problems (including algae blooms), supply vulnerability (earthquakes and landslides can interrupt conveyance) and rising maintenance costs including leak and seepage losses. CCWD estimates the canal loses roughly 7,000 acre‑feet (about 2 billion gallons) annually to evaporation and seepage, equivalent to water for roughly 31,000 residents.
Staff said CCWD finished piping the final mile and a half of an initial four‑mile priority segment and is advancing conceptual designs for additional segments. The preferred long‑term solution, CCWD reported, is an enclosed, buried pipeline (with segments up to 11 feet in diameter where needed). The district described a phased approach that depends on risk, finance and permitting; CCWD staff said one major near‑term task is geotechnical fieldwork along the corridor (pending Bureau of Reclamation workspace approvals) and that CCWD expects to complete a programmatic environmental review and be in preliminary design through 2028 with an aspirational construction start in 2032.
Murphy and Martinez emphasized the program’s financing challenge: the full program estimate is in the billions of dollars and will rely on a mix of state and federal grants, loans and customer rate funding. CCWD said it is actively pursuing federal and state funding and exploring potential rate and customer assistance mechanisms to mitigate impacts on low‑income customers. Councilmembers asked about trail and open‑space improvements once the canal is piped; CCWD said it is coordinating with East Bay Regional Park District on reuse of rights‑of‑way and anticipates public scoping and community outreach during environmental review.
Council requested ongoing updates and asked staff to coordinate closely with the city on public outreach, right‑of‑way access and construction‑phase impacts; CCWD said it would return with more detail as geotechnical schedules and funding opportunities solidify.
