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Water District Projects in Santa Clara County

Click on a specific watershed or area of the county in the map below to learn more about the valley's watersheds, including:

  • Who to contact with questions or concerns

  • What Santa Clara Valley Water District flood protection, water utility project and environmental restoration projects are going on in each region

  • Go to Access Valleywater for on-line customer request and information

or, if you already know what watershed you live in, select from the list at left.

The Guadalupe Watershed is a 170-square-mile area drained by the Guadalupe River and its tributaries through downtown San Jose to San Francisco Bay. Lexington Reservoir, one of the area's best-known landmarks, is located along the western border of this watershed. The Lower Peninsula Watershed is a 98-square-mile area whose many small-creek watersheds feed the tidal wetlands along the San Francisco Bay's southwest shoreline. Its' San Francisquito and Stevens creeks in this watershed are among the last remaining viable steelhead trout runs in the county. The West Valley Watersheds are an 85-square-mile area of multiple small-creek watersheds. Characterized by the contrast between its channelized creeks on the valley floor and its more natural streams in the hillsides, this watershed is the county's smallest.  The Uvas-Llagas Watershed is a 104-square-mile region which is distinguished by its agricultural lands and natural areas. Part of the larger Pajaro River Watershed, the creeks in this watershed are the only waterways in the county that flow southward. Coyote Watershed - Sixteen major creeks drain this 322-square-mile area. The county's largest watershed, it extends from the urbanized valley floor upward to the vast natural areas of the Mt. Hamilton range. Coyote Creek, its main waterway, is the longest creek in the county. 

A watershed is the land area from which surface runoff drains into a stream channel, lake, reservoir, or other body of water, such as the San Francisco Bay. For example, in this county, all the creeks and rivers in the Guadalupe Watershed, including water from storm drains, flow into the Guadalupe River, then north (downstream) into the San Francisco Bay.

Santa Clara County includes all or part of five major watersheds at the southern end of San Francisco Bay in Northern California.

To learn more about the valley's watersheds, including the Santa Clara Valley Water District flood protection and environmental restoration projects in each region, volunteer opportunities or who to contact with questions or concerns, click on a specific watershed or area of the county in the map above, or select from the list at left.

"A watershed is more than the physical landscape that is defined by its ridges with one outlet for water to flow. A watershed supports a variety of resources, uses, activities and values, where everything there is linked in such a way that eventually all things are affected by everything else in the watershed. Perhaps more importantly, a watershed contains the history of all who went before - and the spirit of those who touched it remains."

George Wingate, US Bureau of Land Management

   
Providing stream stewardship, wholesale water supply and flood protection for Santa Clara County.
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