NEWS RELEASE

Date: March 22, 2002

Waterway management plan for Santa Clara County wins approval

SALINAS - A program developed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District to maintain and enhance Santa Clara County's riparian environment won final approval today from the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The board's decision allows the district to continue removing built-up sediment from some streams, control weeds and other non-native or menacing 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.

"Many different local agencies, as well as community groups, worked together in this long and somewhat arduous collaborative effort," Rosemary Kamei, chairwoman of the water district board of directors, said after the meeting.

"It took five years, but working together enabled us to put all the pieces into place, which benefits the entire community."

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 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 final step of the program -- permits from the California Department of Fish and Game and from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- are expected to be forwarded to the water district by the end of April. Routine stream maintenance activities are typically conducted from mid-June through October, which is outside migration and spawning seasons for fish such as steelhead trout and Chinook salmon.

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.