Money will help fund completion of stalled Llagas Creek
Project
Gilroy – Idling county flood-control projects will receive a serious financial bump thanks to the $25.4 million earmarked for flood subventions and included in the recently approved state budget.
Locally, that will translate to the eventual completion of the stalled Upper Llagas Creek project, which runs parallel to the east side of U.S. 101 and extends 13.6 miles from Morgan Hill to north Gilroy.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District placed the project on hold after running out of federal funds.
The project, which carries an estimated price tag of $95 million and a completion date of 2016, will include the replacement of bridges and purchase of property for the construction of a bypass channel, said Santa Clara Valley Water District Spokesman Mike Di Marco.
One of the water district’s jobs is flood protection and the primary funding is received through a parcel tax approved by voters six years ago. But with nine pending projects spread out over a 15-year period, the tax simply does not raise enough cash, Di Marco said.
The county bridges the gap with state and federal funding. The federal government picks up the construction tab, while the state reimburses any land costs affiliated with the flood project.
But the SCVWD hasn’t received any state funding since 2000, “so this (the $25.4 million) will reimburse the water district for money it has spent on projects,” Di Marco said.
In addition, the water district is still slated to receive $10.5 million from the state and $55 million from the federal government. While the county’s chief goal is flood protection, the second objective is to do so with little impact to the environment.
“We try to mimic the natural stream channel as much as possible,” Di Marco said. “It is more expensive but it really is what the community has told us it wants to do.”
