City water officials propose to install two large underground water tanks in Hanlon Park, costing about $130 million, to meet federal drinking water standards.

The project would end the role of Lake Ashburton as a storage reservoir for drinking water for residents of the city’s west side and parts of Baltimore County.

Unveiling their plan last night, the officials emphasized they were committed to keeping Ashburton a “live” lake. Eventually, the property may be converted to recreational uses, but such plans would be years in the future.

Federal rules require all reservoirs holding “finished,” or filtrated, drinking water to be either covered or treated with additional chemicals before going into residential distribution lines.

The Rawlings-Blake administration has opted to cover the city’s three “open” reservoirs – Druid Lake, Guilford and Lake Ashburton – to meet the new standards, which will go into effect in 2018. (Lake Montebello in Northeast Baltimore stores raw, or untreated, water.)

Storing the Water

Last week, the city laid out a plan to drain about 20% of Druid Lake and bury the storage tanks under the reclaimed land. The project would save the tree canopy on the west side of the lake and along Swann Drive.

At the small Guilford Reservoir at Old Cold Spring Lane near Loyola University, the storage tanks would be buried in the drained lake. The project is entering a final design stage.

That left Lake Ashburton as the final reservoir to be dealt with under the federal mandate.

Art Shapiro, chief of construction for the Bureau of Water, promised about 20 residents attending the last night’s meeting that the lake and the popular walking path around its perimeter would be preserved.

New underground pipes from the Ashburton Filtration Plant would feed two precast-concrete storage tanks on the north side of Hanlon Park, just south of Liberty Heights Avenue.

Shapiro said the tanks, each about 470 feet in diameter, would be buried about 35 or 40 feet in the ground and covered with about 5 or 6 feet of soil.

While no trees could be planted over the tanks, trees could be planted nearby and the area could conceivably be used as a ball field.

Future uses of the Lake Ashburton would come under the jurisdiction of the Recreation and Parks Department.

Upgrades “Desperately Needed”

Unlike Druid Hill Park, where specific improvements have been proposed for the reconfigured lake – such as fishing piers, an outdoor amphitheater and a possible yacht club – no  plans for improving Lake Ashburton or Hanlon Park were presented last night.

“We desperately need upgrades,” said community activist Rhonda Wimbish, noting that the fence along the lake’s perimeter and sidewalks across the park “have all been ignored.” Other residents said the park is full of dead and dying trees, reducing its appeal to Forest Park, Ashburton and other surrounding communities.

Wayne Fraser, who lives in Ashburton and is president of the Maryland-Washington Minority Contractors Association, said the city is unwisely using the added funds coming from its repeated water rate increases.

He specifically cited the $185 million proposal by Dynis LLC to convert residential water meters to smart meters. “If the city gives out that job at that price – that’s simply outrageous,” he said.

The award of the controversial metering project is expected to come before Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the Board of Estimates as early as next week.