Contact: Mike Di Marco
(408) 265-2607 ext. 2423
Pager: (408) 488-3963
E-mail: mdimarco@valleywater.org

Date: Feb. 27, 2002

Waterway management plan for Santa Clara County nears approval

OAKLAND - A program developed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District to maintain and enhance Santa Clara County's riparian environment won approval today from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The board's unanimous vote allows the district to continue removing built-up sediment from some streams, control weeds and other non-native vegetation in stream channels and repair erosion along banks annually for the next 10 years without having to submit costly, time-consuming applications each year. The program still requires approval from the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and permits from the state Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"We're pleased and proud to once again be on the leading edge of flood management and watershed stewardship in California," water district director Greg Zlotnick said after the meeting. "This culminates a long and somewhat arduous collaborative effort.

"But in the end, this permit allows us to spend less time on administrative and regulatory processes and more time protecting people, property and environmental resources in Santa Clara County in a more cost-effective manner."

The program - believed to be the first of its kind in the state, if not the nation -- is a radical departure from current regulatory requirements for agencies, such as the district, that are responsible for maintaining waterways for flood protection purposes. Rather than submit applications annually for permits, the program gives the district permission to maintain creeks for the next decade.

In exchange, the district is preserving as much as 1,080 acres for stream and watershed protection, creating 30 acres of tidal wetlands, 14 acres of freshwater wetlands and controlling giant reed in 125 acres of streams throughout the county.

The program goes before the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board on March 22. Permits from the California Department of Fish and Game and from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are expected in March or April.

Santa Clara Valley Water District is Santa Clara County's wholesale drinking water manager and coordinates flood protection for its 1.7 million residents, while serving as steward of the county's more than 700 miles of streams.