Volunteers in the Bonny Doon Fire Protection District have fully installed two large water storage tanks in the Pine Ridge Road area and have three more tanks on standby looking for homes.
The city of Santa Cruz donated five used water storage tanks ranging from 6,000 gallons to 13,000 gallons in capacity to the district this spring.
“They were tanks in the wastewater process,” fire board president Rob Caldera said. “(Santa Cruz) needed to get rid of the tanks, so they offered them to us. It’s the ultimate green recycling program.”
The district board has been working with Bonny Doon residents to find places on private property for the tanks, which will be kept filled in the event an engine or water tender needs a refill during an emergency, such as last summer’s Martin Fire that devastated 520 acres.
Pine Ridge was the first area chosen because of the population density and the typically dry conditions there, Caldera said.
Pine Ridge Road has been dubbed “Kerosene Highway” by residents because of the dry conditions along the road.
Caldera said the board hopes to find locations for the other tanks in upper Bonny Doon near Crest Ranch and in lower Bonny Doon near Beauregard Vineyards.
The tanks have been retrofitted for nozzle connections and have been anchored to the ground. Caldera said it would likely cost “upwards of three or four thousand dollars” to purchase and install tanks like this without the donations.
“It’s all sweat equity,” Caldera said. “We have one hell of a volunteer team.”
Caldera said there has been unequivocal support for the tanks from the community, and he hopes that each year another tank can be added somewhere in Bonny Doon.
“I’m hoping we turn this into a program of some kind, longer term,” he said.
