Mountain House Creek Restoration and Stormwater Master Planning

Tracy, CA

PACE was contracted by Mountain House Community Services District to create a revised Master Drainage Plan, stream restoration plan, provide storm drainage reports for community Neighborhoods G and H, and to participate in the attainment of the Nationwide 27 – Stream Permit for this 4,800-acre development. Mountain House is a self-contained, 4,784-acre master-planned community that, at full build-out, will be home to 43,500 residents. Incorporated into this new town is an innovative, natural approach to water resources management. PACE was the lead consultant on all of the project’s water resource issues, including development-wide stormwater management planning and creek restoration design services for Mountain House Creek, one of the development’s signature features.

PACE was responsible for a creative watershed planning program that included the Stormwater Master Plan Update for the entire development, the restoration and enhancement plan of the 13,400 linear foot Mountain House Creek for a proposed residential golf course and lake system. A unique and natural-based approach to the project creek restoration and combined stormwater management program integrated the use of created wetlands and the establishment of riparian corridors for runoff water quality treatment and flood conveyance within the creek restoration program. The stormwater management features include pedestrian linkage and multi-function open space areas. Additionally, the plan eliminated numerous large diameter storm drains and detention basins by routing on-site runoff through the Mountain House Creek, residential lake system and golf course. This re-routing significantly reduced capital costs for stormwater management and ensured that Mountain House Creek will have year-round flows, thereby enhancing the environmental restoration and aesthetic quality of the development.

Since 2001, PACE has been working with a variety of developers to provide services for the Mountain House Community which now includes stormwater management, flood control, and water resource management for Neighborhoods I, J, and K as well. The defining feature of the Master Drainage Plan is a lake restoration in the heart of Neighborhood K (Lake K), serving as the flood control and water quality center for the overall Stormwater system throughout the community neighborhoods. The 37-acre lake is designed with pockets of BMP water quality treatment for the multiple inflows to drop sediment via naturalized vegetation and habitat. The lake design provides more than enough circulation and retention time before any large storms discharge over the spillway weir and into the adjacent Mountain House Creek outfall. PACE is providing all design specifications and drafting of Lake K mass grading with hydraulic structures in coordination with the Mountain House Community Services District for review and analysis for the municipality through the duration of the project.

Key Features:

• 3-mile long creek restoration
• Master drainage plan development
• Mass grading design
• BMP design
• Permitting and regulatory compliance