#80, November 14, 2001
A few months ago I wrote of "The Once-Secret Heart of
Petaluma" -- the story of an imaginary friend's visit to Petaluma in 2006.
I told of how he was captivated by our town's many natural attractions,
especially the Petaluma River and the new Petaluma Marsh Park.
Many of you are familiar with Petaluma's plans to enhance
the land around the River, from the Payran Bridge to McNear Peninsula. With
federal funding for completion of the flood control project all but in the
bank, and the budget-busting Rainier project still blessedly comatose, the City
finally has money to bring to life some of the great plans for our central
waterway.
But the Petaluma Marsh Park is a relatively new and little
known idea. It grew out of the City's need to replace it's moribund wastewater
treatment facility. The new plant will be built at the site of the old plant's
oxidation ponds just south of town on Lakeville Highway. The design for the
plant is pretty well nailed down, but there is one very important decision yet
to be made by our City Council.
The final stage of treatment is called
"polishing", to remove algae from the water. The conventional way to
polish is "Diffused Air Filtration" (DAF). With DAF, air is released
under the greenish water; the rising bubbles carry algae to the surface where
rotating skimmer arms remove it. Very conventional, and expensive to build and
operate. It's also noisy and ugly, but what do you expect from a sewage
treatment plant?
There is an alternative, however, and it's a great example
of putting sustainability principles to work. It turns out that wetlands-- your
basic cattail-rimmed, duck-inhabited marshes-- are an excellent algae filter.
Based on a natural design several hundred million years old, wetlands can also
remove metals and other toxins from the water. Using "constructed
wetlands" for wastewater treatment is a well-established method, employed
in hundreds of locations across the country. Water discharged to the Petaluma
River from our wetlands treatment would be cleaner than water in the river, and
could be reclaimed for irrigation.
Petaluma's wetlands alternative would also restore some of
the Bay Area wetland wildlife habitat lost to development. The City of Arcata's
treatment wetlands, for example, are visited by over 100 species of birds. The
Audubon Society and Ducks Unlimited are very interested in the success of the
Petaluma Marsh Park project.
But the benefits don't end there. Our new marsh can be
designed in a way that is inviting not only to wildlife, but to humans as well.
The ponds would be upwind from the primary treatment facilities, and
screened by the trees along Ellis Creek. The levees that contain and channel
the water would double as paths for people. As Arcata has shown, the marsh can
serve duty as natural classroom as well as wonderful place to simply enjoy
nature. The success of Schollenberger Park, now the most heavily visited of
Petaluma's parks, is an indication of how popular a more biologically diverse
Marsh Park would be.
Another plus: the Petaluma Marsh Park would be designed by
world-renown environmental artist Patricia Johansen. Patricia has a long and
impressive record of blending civil engineering and public art, creating
designs that are functional and economic yet uniquely beautiful and sensitive
to their setting.
Perhaps the greatest beauty of the wetlands water treatment
alternative is that it will cost the City less than the DAF alternative--
certainly over the life of a DAF investment. When you add it all up-- lower
life cycle costs, increased tourism revenues, increased public recreation and
education benefits, decreased ecological footprint, the choice is clear.
The Petaluma City Council needs to hear this. They are
holding a special meeting on the wastewater treatment issue tonight at 7PM, and
again on November 28th. Let them know you want the plan with the
maximum amount of wetlands, and that the Marsh Park be located on the north
side of Ellis Creek, more easily accessible to the business park. Help make
Petaluma's water treatment "wildly successful."