The Lafayette Reservoir’s signature outlet tower is suddenly a lot shorter. Crews spent yesterday slicing roughly 40 feet off the nearly century-old structure, the headlining move in a state-ordered seismic retrofit meant to keep water from roaring downstream if a major earthquake hits.
Working from a crane perched on a floating barge, construction teams are cutting the tower down to a safer profile while hauling debris to shore. It is the first big, very visible sign that years of engineering reports and regulatory letters are now turning into concrete dust on the water.
Demolition started this week
According to CBS News, crews began removing sections of the tower yesterday, lifting concrete pieces from the top and shuttling them to land. Using the barge-mounted crane, workers trimmed the tower’s height by about 40 feet. Christopher Tritto of the East Bay Municipal Utility District told CBS that with age and deterioration, there’s more risk that it could crack or break, the higher, the taller it is.
Why engineers want the tower shorter
The East Bay Municipal Utility District says the tower was built in 1929 for an earlier, taller dam design and ended up about 40 feet too tall when the dam’s final height was reduced during construction. EBMUD says cutting the outlet tower down and reinforcing the conduits beneath the dam will lower its seismic vulnerability while keeping the tower fully functional. The district also notes the work is funded by ratepayers and cleared by the state regulator. For technical details and renderings, see East Bay Municipal Utility District.
What the maps show
Local reporting points to state inundation maps that model what could happen if the tower failed in a worst-case scenario. Those maps show flooding risks reaching parts of Lafayette and Walnut Creek, including at least one K-8 school, the Lafayette Police Department and the Lafayette BART station. Regulators have cited those potential impacts as a central reason the retrofit could not be put off. CBS News reviewed the inundation mapping details.
Timeline and what to expect
EBMUD’s public schedule lays out a long runway. Construction planning and site preparation are listed for 2025, with major construction slated to begin in March 2026 and tower demolition work running through the summer and early fall. The district lists overall project completion in fall 2027. EBMUD says the reservoir will not need to be drained and that crews will reuse or salvage historic features where feasible during the rebuild. More schedule information and project documents are available from the East Bay Municipal Utility District.
Residents, preservationists and the advisory process
Locals have not exactly been shy about weighing in. Residents organized advisory groups and pushed alternatives aimed at preserving the tower’s landmark profile, which contributed to extended review and additional engineering studies. The City of Lafayette has been posting regular construction updates and notes that demolition will be easy to spot from many vantage points around the reservoir this summer. Meeting records and notices appear in the city’s construction bulletin at the City of Lafayette.
What regulators have said
In a letter to the city, the California Department of Water Resources’ Division of Safety of Dams reminded officials that because the tower serves as both an outlet and spillway, it is a critical structure for dam safety, any alternative fix would need a dam-specific, proven track record. The Division notes the tower’s seismic deficiency was identified decades ago and that it has overseen the review of options and the schedule for remedial work. The letter is included in the public record.
What to watch
Visitors should be ready for construction noise, intermittent traffic flagging at the park entrance to move heavy equipment, and reduced picnic reservations and parking in the main reservoir lot while staging and hauling continue. For ongoing notices and technical documents, check the Lafayette Tower project page at the East Bay Municipal Utility District and local updates from the City of Lafayette.
