Climate Change and Water Resources

Overview of Climate Change

Earth's climate is changing, posing one of the most significant threats to our water resources. Increasing air and water temperatures, altered hydrology and/or rainfall patterns and rising sea levels will all affect our region and its water resources, resulting in more severe droughts or floods or both. In addition, rising sea levels would put our bay front communities at greater risk. Climate change impacts everyone and we can make a real difference by working together with our customers, partners and the community.

The District and the Board of Directors are committed to working on the challenges of climate change. See the following links for additional information about climate change and water resources:

• Board Resolution
• Board Policy
• Board of Director's Workstudy - January 29, 2008
• Presentations
• Climate Change Affects
• Additional Links
• Tips for Green Living
• Recent Reports

The reality of climate change for the district potentially includes:

Rising sea levels - not to mention a major earthquake or heavy seasonal flooding - threaten a catastrophic failure of the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta levee system, through which, about half of our annual water supply passes. Another predicted result of climate change in California is the loss of 85% of the Sierra snowpack by 2100. Earlier snowmelts and increased springtime precipitation caused by climate change are predicted to produce unseasonable runoff that becomes less and less available for exports to, among other places, Santa Clara County. Unprecedented long-lasting droughts that leave our largest reservoirs dry are also anticipated.

Locally, as temperatures increase and precipitation changes -endangered natural habitat, fisheries together with plant and animal species may suffer further decline or disappear. The effects of climate change expand beyond water supply concerns. Our flood protection structures may not be able to handle future flows as rising tides overwhelm levees in the South Bay.

The above scenarios represent the reality of climate change over the next several decades and presents water resource managers with significant challenges that will be very difficult and phenomenally expensive to overcome.

Addressing climate change

The water district is addressing climate change issues at both the state and national level. Our partnership with Sustainable Silicon Valley's CO₂ Initiative is a key strategy to respond to climate change resulting from the accumulation of human-generated greenhouse gases like CO₂ in Santa Clara County. We are taking action right now by changing the way we manage energy usage and optimizing our operations so that they are energy efficient. In addition, our water conservation programs have resulted in some of the biggest energy savings of any programs in the County.

Our long term water supply planning processes incorporated the uncertainties associated with a changing climate almost a decade ago. As more information becomes known, we refine our projections and update our analyses. We are working with others to understand the realities we will face in the future. As we move forward the water district strives to become a well-managed agency that is able to adapt quickly to change and respond effectively to the water resource implications of climate change. Climate change is also being addressed in our watershed and flood control planning processes and as part of our preparation of environmental documentation for projects.

News Articles

San Jose Mercury Article on Global Warming by Larry Wilson - February 15, 2006