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Portland Water Bureau officials, in an effort to comply with federal regulations, are moving ahead with a project to disconnect the three open reservoirs at Mount Tabor Park by the end of next year.

Late last month, the bureau submitted a land use review application for the project to the Bureau of Development Services. The process will include reviews of historic resources and environmental impacts as well as a public comment period and hearing.

Construction at the Southeast Portland park, scheduled to start in early 2015, will separate the reservoirs from the city’s water system. This includes building a new pipeline that will circumvent the reservoirs to deliver drinking water for distribution to homes. Three non-historic vaults will be removed and replaced with new underground vaults elsewhere.

The next step will be to figure out what to do with the decommissioned reservoirs, which will be taken over by Portland Parks & Recreation, Water Bureau spokeswoman Jaymee Cuti said. City Commissioner Amanda Fritz is leading an effort to gather ideas from the public on the next use for the historic drinking water reservoirs. Some initial suggestions from the public include converting them into a park water feature, a pool or a skate park, Cuti said.