Santa Clara Valley Water District Plan on Track

San Jose
– The Santa Clara Valley Water District’s 15-year plan to
provide flood protection and preserve creeks and rivers remains on
schedule, although it faces new challenges posed by lackluster
state and federal funding and rising construction costs, according
to an independent monitoring committee.
San Jose – The Santa Clara Valley Water District’s 15-year plan to provide flood protection and preserve creeks and rivers remains on schedule, although it faces new challenges posed by lackluster state and federal funding and rising construction costs, according to an independent monitoring committee.

Santa Clara County voters passed the Clean, Safe Creeks and Natural Flood Protection Plan (Measure B) in the November 2000 general election to create a countywide special parcel tax for specific flood-safety projects and watershed improvements. The measure also created an independent monitoring committee to evaluate and report on the progress of the water district’s work. 

“The committee is satisfied with the current progress being made on projects,” said David Ginsborg, chairman of the Clean, Safe Creeks and Natural Flood Protection Plan Independent Monitoring Committee, while presenting the fifth annual oversight report to the district’s board of directors recently.

The committee, however, expressed concern about the challenges to the plan posed by two converging, though unrelated, issues: shortfalls in federal and state funding, and sharply rising land and construction costs.

In addition, the water district also is faced with the challenge of an unprecedented escalation in land and capital project construction costs that have ranged between 15 and 25 percent per year the past two years.

The committee report noted that the water district had exceeded its annual goal of managing vegetation in creek channels. In addition, the district had added 23.30 miles of public access to trails this fiscal year for a cumulative total of 33.27 miles. 

The annual report is posted on the water district’s Web site, www.valleywater.org. 

The Santa Clara Valley Water District manages wholesale drinking water resources and provides stewardship for the county’s five watersheds, including 10 reservoirs, more than 800 miles of streams and groundwater basins. The water district also provides flood protection throughout Santa Clara County.