Valley Water work crews maintain stream conditions across Santa Clara County to safely carry water during winter storms. This flood protection work is critical, as we can’t predict when a wet winter will deliver the type of rainfall and creek flows that we saw last season.
Santa Clara County has over 800 miles of creeks, and Valley Water owns and manages about 294 miles of those streams. Valley Water inspects and prioritizes portions of these streams for maintenance projects each year through our Stream Maintenance Program. We focus on streams that have been improved with engineered projects to provide continued flood protection for homes and businesses.
Between June and October our crews go into creeks and streams to remove sediment, manage vegetation, clear trash and debris and stabilize eroded banks.
While heavy work occurs in the summer, stream maintenance is year-round. Valley Water staff regularly inspects stream conditions, especially after storms. Toward the end of the rainy season, staff plan and prepare for maintenance projects for the upcoming work season. Valley Water primarily performs this work between June 15 and Oct. 15. Sometimes, Valley Water may request and receive work extensions beyond Oct. 15 to complete projects. Other work, including minor maintenance and vegetation management projects, can occur year-round.
This work season, Valley Water identified over 50 maintenance projects countywide. Some of those projects completed in my district include bank repairs on Regnart Creek in Cupertino; sediment removal on Calabazas Creek in Saratoga; and planting and managing native vegetation mitigation on Stevens Creek downstream of McLellan Road in Cupertino.
For a list of all the projects, please visit valleywater.org/project-updates/stream-maintenance-program.
Valley Water is limited by the type of work we can perform on natural channels or streams without a completed flood protection project due to potentially harming natural habitat. There is also a risk of redirecting high flows to another location, potentially threatening properties.
Our work under the Stream Maintenance Program is funded in part by the voter-approved Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program. Thank you for your investment.
If you’d like to watch a recently published video highlighting our Stream Maintenance Program and work crews, please visit www.youtube.com/@Valleywater/videos.
Nai Hsueh represents District 5 on the Valley Water board, which encompasses the cities of Cupertino, Saratoga, parts of Central and South Sunnyvale and parts of Southwest San Jose. Contact Hsueh at nhsueh@valleywater.org.
