Upgrading the Lodgepole Campground Water System at Sequoia and Kings Canyon

Giant sequoias, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. NPS/Pieter Kaufman.

The place

The Lodgepole area of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks serves 1.6 million visitors a year and is the base for exploring the Giant Forest, an unlogged grove of giant sequoias.

Lodgepole Campground, the parks' largest, has 214 sites for tents, RVs and trailers and eight restrooms, and hosts about 60,000 overnight stays a year. Its water system also supplies the visitor center, food services, maintenance facility, nature center, staff housing and the fire-flow system.

The project

With Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) funding, the park planned to rehabilitate parts of the water system — for safe drinking water for campers and reliable water for firefighting. As wildfires increase, the area must be ready to protect the sequoias.

The work

• connect the Wolverton and Lodgepole water systems, replacing a 4-inch main with a new 8-inch potable water main — adding backup supply and better water delivery for fire protection;
• replace fire hydrants;
• fix code violations, renovate the storage tank and replace the water treatment facility;
• repave the disturbed service road and housing-area parking, improving driving safety and snow removal.

Status: the construction award depended on funding for a larger parent project, with the award targeted for September 2022. More: Lodgepole.

Sources

Based on "Lodgepole Campground Water System in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park to Be Rehabilitated Through GAOA Funding," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.