Why go to Lake Chabot when we have our own lake right here in Dublin?

Located just south of the Grafton Plaza site (on the corner of Dublin Blvd. and Grafton Street), there is the 11.2-acre Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin. In addition to being a strikingly beautiful micro-environment replete with native plants, bushes, lush grass-sided green slopes, and a 1/2 mile path that encircles the pond, this water retention basin is a natural water filtration system for the entire Dublin Ranch community. While the actual water basin isn’t accessible to visitors for recreational use, the surrounding 1/2 mile trail will be available for walking, jogging, cycling, dog-walking, and general use once a safe method of access is available.

Incorporating a filtration process that is both natural and sustainable, the Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin, affectionately called “Lake Dublin” by the Around Dublin Team, has one of the most advanced green designs of its kind in the state. Dublin pushed for a radical new approach to build a storm water quality basin that could also function as an amenity for the local community – as opposed to the usual damp hole or concrete “dry pond” (also known as a water detention basin).

One potentially exciting addition to Lake Dublin could be an “Art Fence” installation that would have custom panels and graphics along the northern pedestrian promenade. The “Art Fence” project would need to be coordinated through the Dublin Fine Arts Foundation and funded through Dublin’s public art fund.

Here are a few bits of Lake Dublin trivia:

• All of the trees and plants located on the sides of the basin were selected based on their ability to survive underwater in the event that the pond were to become completely full of storm water.
• The Lin Family paid for the construction of the Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin as part of the Dublin Ranch project.
• CalTrans has a right-of-way to the south of the Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin. Accordingly, the utility lines to the south would likely need to be “undergrounded” as part of any future project.

Please click on the image below for a detailed illustration of the Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin’s design features. Additionally, please check out the Around Dublin Facebook page for additional photos of the Dublin Ranch Water Quality Basin.