Lafayette Reservoir's Tower Lost 40 Feet. The Loop's Quiet Season Starts Next.

The tower you've walked past for years now stands about 40 feet lower than it did in June. It's still wrapped in scaffolding and protective material, and it has no operating house on top. From the Lakeside Nature Trail, the hardest part looks finished.

EBMUD's own paperwork tells a longer story. Its project page gives fall 2027 as the completion date. The district's August 6, 2026 Dam Safety Program report says demolition should wrap up in late fall 2026, conduit retrofits come in 2027, and "contract completion is scheduled for March 2028." The two dates don't agree, and both are official. Both also say the same thing about the next few months. The reservoir is about to go into a gap between two construction seasons, and the stretch from late fall through winter should be the closest thing to a normal loop until crews come back in spring.

Why a 1929 tower needed a haircut

The outlet tower is the dam's spillway. EBMUD built it in 1929, and it has always been 40 feet taller than it needed to be because the dam's height changed while construction was underway. For most of a century the extra height just made it a landmark. It became a safety problem after the 2017 Oroville Dam crisis, when California's Division of Safety of Dams tightened its rules. EBMUD says current seismic studies show the tower "could bend and break during a large earthquake," and the conduits at its base could be damaged too. DSOD required the district to fix the seismic issue and add an onshore valve operating system so it can respond faster in an emergency.

So the shorter tower is just the first item on a list. In order, the job goes like this:

1. Early July 2026. Crews removed the old operating house and started taking 13 concrete rings off the tower stem.
2. By August 21. The tower reached its new, lower height.
3. Through November 2026. Crews build new corbels, which are the supports, plus a floor inside the existing tower, then install a new metal operating house on top. The August update set November as the target. We haven't found an update since then confirming the installation, so treat it as planned.
4. Later this fall. The seasonal environmental work window closes and tower work stops.
5. Spring 2027. Crews return in the next permitted window to install new underwater slide gates and electric motor operators. Electrical work, testing and commissioning follow.
6. Fall 2027 or March 2028. The public project page says the tower returns to full operation in fall 2027. The board report puts contract completion in March 2028.

The original tower may also come back to town in a smaller form. The Lafayette Chamber's posted stakeholder update says EBMUD has received community questions about salvaging pieces of the old structure. The district is looking at ways to save what it can, "with plans to create a historic token for the public." No formal plan has been announced yet.

The second project on the same path

The tower gets the attention, but this fall there's a second crew working near the Visitor Center. EBMUD's wastewater collection system project replaces the recreation area's sewer lift station and the pipes serving the Visitor Center, Ranger Residence and Maintenance Building. It also adds a backup generator and fuel tank, puts up a radio tower, and replaces part of a roadside retaining wall. That work was scheduled to run from fall 2025 through fall 2026, with a 12-foot access lane kept open and flaggers on hand when needed.

Both projects run on the same calendar. The wastewater work is set to finish this fall, and the tower crews pause when the environmental window closes, so the noise near the barge ramp should drop off at about the same time. The trail work near the parking lot is also smaller than it may have looked. Bay Area Telegraph reported in August that the rebuilt path is part of the tower project's site work, done alongside a temporary widening of the access road for heavy equipment. It covers a short connector beside the access road, running down from the dam toward the Visitor Center and parking. The 2.7-mile paved loop isn't being rebuilt.

Until both crews stop, here's what the August stakeholder update says to expect on a walk:

• Ongoing noise and active crews near the Lakeside Nature Trail and the barge ramp.
• Equipment and materials crossing the paved trail on the way to the park's exit road, with flaggers at the main gate and along the trail.
• Occasional stops of 10 to 15 minutes for both pedestrians and cars.
• No planned vehicle closures, just intermittent flagging at the entrance while heavy equipment moves.

Fishing, hiking and picnicking stay open throughout. Demolition debris leaves the park by truck using the Acalanes Road onramp and doesn't go through downtown Lafayette. We found no specific notice of a Rim Trail closure. EBMUD says it will post alternate routes and signs if a pedestrian route has to close.

One Sunday the loop belongs to the 10K

Before the winter lull, there's one morning when the loop is closed to regular use. The Lafayette Res Run for Education is on Sunday, October 18. The 5K starts at 8 a.m., the 10K at 8:15, and the 2-mile run/walk at 8:45. Only the 10K goes around the reservoir. Its course runs from Oak Hill Road to El Nido Ranch Road, circles the water and comes back. Leashed dogs and strollers are allowed on the 10K. The 5K and 2-mile routes stay downtown. The Chamber's race page is clear about what that means for everyone else:

"the Reservoir Challenge is not an option on race day as the Reservoir will be closed for everyone but the 10K runners."

The Reservoir Challenge is the virtual 2.7-mile version you can walk or run on your own any day this week. The Chamber's page gives two different date ranges for it, so check the exact window when you register. If you're downtown instead, the Healthy Lifestyles Fair runs from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Lafayette Circle, between The Roundup Saloon, Roam, White Barn Home and Tutu's.

The race has a track record. The 2025 Res Run, the 32nd, drew just under 2,200 runners and raised $37,611 for local public schools. The Chamber and the City of Lafayette co-present it, and Oakwood Athletic Club has sponsored it for decades. This year's 10K is also the first to circle a tower that's still under scaffolding.

The loop through winter, by the numbers

After race weekend, a visit to the reservoir comes down to the details below. All of it is from EBMUD's Lafayette Reservoir page and its posted documents. The hours come from a brochure dated October 2024, so check the hours posted at the gate before planning an evening loop.

EBMUD's recreation page lists boat rentals as available, but it doesn't confirm how the boathouse is operating while construction is going on. Call ahead before you plan a morning on the water around the barge ramp. The district's harmful algae warning is still posted. Hiking near the water is considered safe, but body contact with the water is prohibited, and dogs shouldn't go in or drink it. Dogs are welcome on a leash of six feet or less.

The calendar works out well for one group in particular. EBMUD plants trout from November through March, which is the same stretch when tower work is scheduled to stop and the wastewater project is due to be done. For anglers and early walkers, the reservoir should be at its quietest in a year and a half during the months between the operating house installation and the spring 2027 return of crews to the slide gates.

Living within walking distance of the Res has real value, and in Lafayette that's often a big part of what a home is worth. If you're curious what yours would bring in today's market, Lauren Kraus can put together a complimentary home valuation, written with the same attention to local detail as this guide to the loop.