If the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors goes
along with its staff recommendations presented Wednesday, a
$2.3-million capacity restoration project for the lower portion of
Llagas Creek and $13.6-million for flood control to the upper part
of the creek will be funded.
San Jose
If the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors goes along with its staff recommendations presented Wednesday, a $2.3-million capacity restoration project for the lower portion of Llagas Creek and $13.6-million for flood control to the upper part of the creek will be funded.
The board in May requested the Flood Protection Capital Program be prepared by the district staff, and specifically address “financial challenges” for funding flood control projects, according to a memo included with the staff report presented Wednesday.
District staff recommended several methods to address funding issues: reallocating funds left over from completed projects under the Clean, Safe Creeks Natural Flood Protection program, reducing the number and scope of projects, and accelerating projects “when feasible … to reduce the impacts of construction cost escalation,” according to the report.
The report calls to include money for the lower and upper Llagas Creek projects, which will implemented as part of the district’s 2008-2012 Capital Improvement Program. Revenues for the program are generated through a voter-approved property tax.
The projects are capacity restoration at the completed lower Llagas Creek, which would be funded $2.3 million, and the upper Llagas Creek project under the Clean, Safe Creeks program, which would get $13.6 million.
The included funds reflect what the staff considers the district’s equity of the projects’ total cost, said Nai Hsueh, assistant general manager for strategic support who oversees the district’s capital improvement program.
The upper Llagas Creek project last week was among the 900-plus that Congress included as it reauthorized the Water Resources Development Act, which required overriding President Bush’s veto. The total cost is estimated at $105 million, with the federal government responsible for 60 percent and the local governments 40 percent. WRDA green-lights the projects but doesn’t fund them, as funding allocated in subsequent bills.
The water district is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct the upper Llagas Creek project. If approved as recommended by staff, the capital plan would allocate $9.6 million in fiscal year 2008 for the project and $4.1 million in fiscal year 2009, for a total of $13.7 million.
“I don’t anticipate any changes,” said board member and Gilroy resident Sig Sanchez. “All we’re doing is getting the updates, I don’t think the priorities are going to change.”
Ram Singh, a San Jose State water resources management professor who challenged board member Rosemary Kamei for her seat last year, said the allocations weren’t enough.
“South County is getting shortchanged by the Santa Clara Valley Water District,” he said. “The area developed quite a bit … They should include input from South County people. There’s a lot of growth and homes that need to be protected.”
Sanchez said the board would vote on the capital plan “probably sometime in January.”
