Cal Water to Decommission Empty Tank in Chico

Cal Water will begin removing the old 300,000-gallon elevated water storage tank on Cherry Avenue in Chico tomorrow. The tank, which was constructed in 1959 but has not been used since 2015, was deemed by a third-party surveyor as a structural risk should significant seismic activity occur.

This tank is not one of the two more iconic elevated tanks Cal Water worked with the Chico Heritage Association to retain in downtown Chico. It will be decommissioned due to the high cost of structurally retrofitting it and the tank no longer being used in the local distribution system. Since the tank was taken offline, the district has added two new, ground-level tanks that provide more than 2 million gallons of storage.

“We cannot ask our ratepayers to fund infrastructure that is no longer used and one that is a potential safety hazard at that,” said District Manager Evan Markey. “We are deep-rooted in this community and glad that residents can still enjoy seeing the two elevated tanks on East Third and Orient streets as part of the Chico landscape.”