D2: Revitalize Riparian, Upland and Wetland Habitat*
This project allows Valley Water to revitalize habitat for rare, threatened or endangered species or vegetation types, and create a more contiguous corridor for wildlife, including pollinators. Funding helps to restore degraded habitat by removing invasive plants and/or revegetating with native species. Funding is prioritized for projects that include community partnerships or provide education for nearby landowners and other stakeholder groups on the control of harmful species.
The project will also create an Early Detection and Rapid Response Program to identify and treat small infestations of new weeds before they become established.
Increasing the quality and quantity of native habitat areas and improving the connections between them are important adaptive strategies to support native species as climate conditions change. It increases access to new areas for migration and more room for hiding, hunting, breeding and rearing as needs evolve and increase.
See Environmental & Community Benefits section for complete description of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
KPI #1: (Revitalize acres)
In FY26, Valley Water and its partners continued their work on multiple invasive plant management projects in high-priority habitats across the county and completed work on 41.1 acres.
Since the inception of the renewed Safe Clean Water Program in FY22, Valley Water and its partners have revitalized 48.9 acres under Project D2.
- Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency (Habitat Agency) – The Habitat Agency continues its work removing invasive vegetation to enhance special status species habitat at several reserve properties with high-priority invasive plant problems. FY26 is the third year of a multi-year agreement between Valley Water and the Habitat Agency building upon work that began in a FY23 pilot project at the Baird and Davidson Reserves, which encompasses rare and sensitive serpentine plant communities, and Coyote Ridge East Preserve, which is home to extant populations of the federally threatened species California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) and California red-legged frog (Rana aurora). In FY26, the Habitat Agency continued its work on several high-priority invasive plant removal projects on preserves across the county. These include improving grassland and rangeland quality on Coyote Ridge East Reserve and Máyyan ‘Ooyákma (formerly called Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve), artichoke thistle (Cynara cardunculus) treatment on multiple reserves, and 20 additional acres of barbed goatgrass treatment at Baird, Davidson, and Tilton Reserves. Work is expected to take up to five years to complete (three for most species, five for artichoke thistle). Total in-progress project area exceeds 200 acres; completed work will be reported in future annual reports. The Habitat Agency is also providing continuing support for the maintenance of Grassroots Ecology’s one-acre native plant restoration site at the San Jose – Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility in Alviso.
- California State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) [since 2018] – Controlling invasive smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) in partnership with the Conservancy and Invasive Spartina Project. Click for a map of invasive Spartina coverage. In FY26, the Conservancy treated 10.5 acres of invasive Spartina within a matrix of over 8,700 acres of tidal marsh and ecotone habitats in Valley Water’s service area. All acreage in FY26 was retreatment, ensuring that this aggressive invader and ecosystem engineer does not regain a foothold in sensitive bayland habitats, imperiling endangered species such as the Ridgway’s rail (Rallus obsoletus obsoletus). This partnership is now concluded, though the work continues with funding from other sources.
- Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) – New projects under the partnership with Midpen that began in the 2012 Safe Clean Water Program were initiated in FY23, including projects to control multiple high-priority invasive species in reserves across Santa Clara County. These include projects at Sierra Azul, Fremont Older, and Bear Creek Redwoods Preserve. As of the end of FY26, Midpen has completed 41.1 acres of habitat revitalization under the renewed Safe Clean Water Program. This includes 6.3 acres of wetlands and adjacent trails and uplands at Bear Creek Redwoods and 34.8 acres of grassland and chaparral habitat at Fremont Older Preserve. In-progress work covers over 50 additional acres, which will be reported upon completion.
- In addition to staff and contractor invasive species removal work, Midpen’s revitalization efforts include volunteer and service-learning events with Grassroots Ecology and other groups, including Land Stewards, and Preserve Partner volunteer events and Advanced Resource Management Stewards projects. For more details on these programs, see https://www.openspace.org/get-involved/volunteer
KPI #2: (Early Detection and Rapid Response Program Development)
Valley Water developed a draft target list of EDRR species in 2019, revised it in 2024, and will continue to refine it during the EDRR manual development process. A draft manual was completed in FY26. Feedback from internal and external interested parties and initiation of the CEQA process are anticipated for FY27.
KPI #3: (Early Detection and Rapid Response Implementation)
In FY26, Valley Water identified and documented 54 populations of target emergent invasive species. Combined with the 303 populations identified in FY23-FY25, this brings the total to 357 documented under the renewed Safe, Clean Water Program.
Valley Water treated 12 high-priority populations under existing permit coverage during FY22-26, all of which are reported under this KPI. These include populations of medusahead, barbed goatgrass, and other high-priority weed species in areas adjacent to high-quality special-status species habitat, such as Valley Water’s Almaden-Calero Canal and the Kirby Canyon Bay Checkerspot Butterfly preserve portion of Coyote Ridge. The Safe, Clean Water Program’s Five-Year Implementation Plan target for FY2022-26 was to treat 10 high-priority populations.
Once the EDRR program is operational, all remaining identified populations, including those identified and documented before the renewed Safe, Clean Water Program began in July 2021, will be prioritized, and based on the outcome, a subset will be selected for treatment each year.
KPI #4: (Information sheets)
Information sheets will be developed for high-priority early detection species in the county. An information sheet template and the first species sheet (for creeping water primrose, Ludwigia hexapetala) were created in FY24. Two information sheets for stinknet (Oncosiphon pilulifer) and waxy manna grass (Glyceria declinata), both of which are early detection species for the county, were created in FY26.
Additional activities:
- Valley Water is a founding and active member of the Santa Clara County Wildlife Corridors Working Group with the United States Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Caltrans, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), Santa Clara County Parks, Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency (VHA), Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), Open Space Authority (OSA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), De Anza College and others.
- Valley Water is also an active member of the Santa Clara Weed Management Area (SCWMA) working group with Santa Clara County Parks, California State Parks, County of Santa Clara Division of Agriculture, Caltrans, OSA, Midpen, Habitat Agency, and other area partners. The wildlife corridor and SCWMA working groups offer Valley Water strong, diverse, and strategic partnerships. They increase opportunities to revitalize more habitats, expand EDRR, treat more invasive plant occurrences, disseminate information sheets, and conduct public outreach and education.
August 2026
