Community

U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who represents Morgan Hill in the nation’s highest legislative body, was “preaching to the choir,” according to one attendee, at her March 4 town hall that brought a packed house to the council meeting chambers on Peak Avenue.

A report showing that Morgan Hill has the second highest suicide rate in the county among “youth” between ages 10-24 was released March 3 by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren will host a town hall meeting, with a focus on immigration, 10 to 11:30 a.m. March 4 at the Morgan Hill City Council meeting chambers, 17555 Peak Ave. Due to limited space, anyone interested in attending is asked to register by visiting lofgren.house.gov or calling (408) 271-8700. Lofgren represents Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Jose and all of Santa Clara County.

The Gilroy Garlic Festival is now accepting online applications for the 2017 Miss Gilroy Garlic Festival Queen Pageant. Young ladies between the ages of 18 to 24 who live in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Hollister, San Juan Bautista or Aromas are eligible to enter.

Every year, Morgan Hill’s Chamber of Commerce honors a select group of individuals for their dedicated service to the local community with the nonprofit’s annual Chamber of the Year Awards.

A couple hundred protesters from throughout the Bay Area braved the heavy Presidents’ Day rains Feb. 20 and converged on the new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Morgan Hill.

As weather reports indicate the rain won’t let up on Morgan Hill until at least Tuesday evening, local officials are again cautioning residents to prepare for flooding and other hazards.The city’s Office of Emergency Services issued its latest warning for neighborhoods along Coyote Creek, just below Anderson Dam in northeast Morgan Hill. Residents of the Coyote Estates, Alicante and Mission Ranch subdivisions are urged to be ready for potential local flooding.This readiness includes stocking up on sandbags, which were available over the weekend next to the Target store driveway on Cochrane Road, in addition to the usual locations, according to authorities. Sand and sandbags can also be retrieved at 100 Edes Court, next to the city’s corp yard; on Old Monterey Road, just south of the El Toro Fire Station; and in the southeast corner of the Caltrain parking lot on Depot Street.City staff also issued a storm update Monday morning, expecting the latest storm to get worse before it gets better.“Winds will increase throughout the day, which may cause downed trees and power lines,” reads the update on the Facebook page “City of Morgan Hill – Engage.” “Our area may experience another 2-3 inches of rain as the day continues, with rain tapering tonight into Tuesday morning.”

Anderson Reservoir began rushing over the spillway for the first time in more than 10 years Saturday, Feb. 18.

A writer gains inspiration from the strangest of places for their work. When local romance novelist Heatherly Bell woke up from a dream with a storyline that fit nicely for her next piece, she quickly wrote it down.

Santa Clara Valley Water District Chair of the Board of Directors John Varela released the letter below to the public in response to continued rains that have caused Anderson Reservoir in Morgan Hill to fill beyond the storage limit set by the state Division of Safety of Dams. The reservoir was at about 87 percent of its total capacity as of Feb. 9.Varela's letter reads: Dear Neighbors,Since Anderson Dam was built in 1950, the reservoir has reached its capacity in ten separate years, most recently in 2006. When Anderson Reservoir is full, it produces quite a visual spectacle as water flows down the spillway, yet it also can result in flood risks along Coyote Creek.Given the discovery of seismic vulnerabilities, Santa Clara Valley Water District has operated the dam under a storage restriction since 2009. Anderson Dam is under the regulatory jurisdiction of the California Division of Safety of Dams and, because we operate a small hydroelectric facility at the dam, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also regulates the dam. Currently, these regulatory agencies have set a reservoir elevation restriction equivalent to 68 percent of capacity, or 61,810 acre-feet of water.Agencies set these storage elevation restrictions understanding that reservoirs cannot physically be kept below a restricted level at all times; for example, they understand that storms produce rainfall runoff into reservoirs that will temporarily increase the amount of water in them. These agencies have not requested the water district do anything beyond releasing water from the dam's existing outlet as quickly as possible, to help bring water levels back down.Anderson's outlet has been 100% open since Jan. 9, releasing water into Coyote Creek at a rate of more than 400 cubic feet per second. But, with the many wet storms that have occurred one after another, the rate of flow into the reservoir has at times exceeded the rate of water we are releasing from the outlet. As a result, the water level in the reservoir has risen, and with more storms in the forecast, we project that the reservoir could be full in the next few days.The water district will continue to release water from the dam's outlet until the water level falls below the restricted level. Depending on the amount of rainfall inflow from future storms, this could take 4 to 9 weeks.There is a concern if a massive earthquake of 7.25 on the Richter Scale (larger than the Loma Prieta earthquake we had in 1989) were to occur within two kilometers of the dam while the reservoir is full. This would be an earthquake of a magnitude larger than any that has ever been recorded on the nearby Calaveras Fault. While earthquakes cannot be predicted with any precision, the chance of such an earthquake occurring in the next few weeks is very remote.Should people be worried? Keep in mind that this is the same dam that has performed well in numerous earthquakes, including the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, since it was built in 1950.What would happen if a massive quake did occur? There's a chance that the dam could be damaged, but the chance of immediate dam failure is exceedingly remote. It is possible that we would have several days or weeks to reduce the water level with emergency pumps before any further damage could compromise the integrity of the dam.This situation reminds us of the importance of completing the project to rehabilitate Anderson Dam. Due to the existing seismic safety restriction on Anderson, it is likely that we will need to release more than 30,000 acre-feet of water to the Bay this year that could have otherwise been stored for future use-that's enough water to supply 60,000 households for an entire year. Our project team and expert consultants are working diligently to complete the design of this major project so that the reservoir can be fully utilized as soon as possible. Currently, we anticipate beginning construction in 2020 and completing by 2024.For any questions surrounding seismic matters or the Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit Project, please feel free to call Hemang Desai at 408-630-3017 or Katherine Oven at 408-630-3126.For any questions surrounding Anderson's water storage, flows, or releases, please feel free to call Aaron Baker directly at 408-630-2135 or Garth Hall at 408-630-2350.Sincerely,John L. VarelaChair/Board of Directors