This project enables Valley Water to work with local municipalities to clearly delineate and communicate roles and responsibilities for floodplain management and flood emergency management. The resulting plans will also strengthen response capabilities for mutual assistance during other types of public health and safety emergencies or natural disasters. The project supports Valley Water’s countywide emergency response, preparedness and mitigation activities, develops communication processes and disseminates web-based flood forecasting information developed under Project F7: Emergency Response Upgrades. Valley Water will also assist collaborating agencies in developing formal, site-specific flood-fighting strategies and will coordinate outreach throughout the county so that the public receives uniform warning messages during a flood emergency.
See Environmental & Community Benefits section for complete description of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
KPI #1: (Coordinate with local municipalities)
- Valley Water continues to attend the monthly Santa Clara County Emergency Managers meetings, where staff engages with Emergency Managers from local municipalities and shares Valley Water’s current work activities, particularly those involving collaboration with local agencies.
- Valley Water staff have developed Quick Guides for all our existing creek EAPs that have recently been updated or completed. These are five-to-seven-page summaries of an EAP. They are designed to provide easy access to the key actionable information from the full EAP.
- Attended briefing of the San Francisquito Creek Multi-Agency Coordination (SFC MAC) group on the July 4th Safety Watch.
- Partnered with the City of Sunnyvale to hold a joint tabletop exercise in March 2025 based on the recently updated West Valley Watershed Emergency Action Plan.
KPI #2: (Flood Management Plans)
- Completed an update to the Lower Penitencia Creek Watershed Emergency Action Plan, incorporating lessons learned from a tabletop exercise held with the City of Milpitas.
- Prepared an update to the Joint Emergency Action Plan for Severe Storm and Flood Response in City of San José (JEAP) that includes a new Berryessa Creek Appendix.
- On August 29, 2024, met with the City of San José Office of Emergency Management to review proposed changes to the format of the JEAP that had been developed based the lessons learned from the Lower Penitencia Creek EAP tabletop exercise held in December of 2023.
- Developed an updated Quick Guide for the San Francisquito Creek EAP to support an exercise conducted on December 18, 2024.
- Drafting an update of the Lower Peninsula Watershed EAP to incorporate Stevens Creek, which flows through portions of Mountain View, Los Altos, Cupertino, and Sunnyvale.
- In December of 2024 we provided the draft of the update of the Lower Peninsula Watershed EAP to the Mountain View, Los Altos, Cupertino, and Sunnyvale for their review.
- All updated EAPs and Quick Guides have been posted on the Valley Water website at https://www.valleywater.org/flooding-safety/flood-emergency-action-plans
KPI #3: (Drills and exercises)
- In April 2024, Valley Water staff participated in a regional full-scale exercise in the City of Santa Clara, by the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative.
- On May 9, 2024, Valley Water conducted a tabletop exercise of the Lower Penitencia Creek Watershed EAP with the City of Milpitas to help familiarize staff of both agencies on the EAP and how best to coordinate flooding response. An after-action report was prepared with lessons learned.
- In May 2024, Valley Water staff participated at Santa Clara County’s EOC as players in a tabletop exercise of an atmospheric river event, jointly presented by Santa Clara County’s Office of Emergency Management, Oklahoma State University, and the National Weather Service.
- In May 2024, Valley Water was invited to serve as an evaluator during the City of Sunnyvale’s EOC functional exercise.
- In June 2024, Valley Water participated in an exercise hosted by CalFire and the South Bay Incident Management Team.
- In June 2024, Valley Water staff met with the Stanford University’s Director of Emergency Management and discussed opportunities to improve coordination and collaboration, especially with regards to the San Francisquito Creek.
- On September 12, 2024, Valley Water staff participated in an exercise held by the City of Morgan Hill.
- Valley Water was invited to participate in an exercise conducted by California Water Service office in San Jose. A member of Valley Water’s Office of Emergency Services served as an evaluator for the exercise that was held on September 18, 2024
- On December 18, 2024, Valley Water, in partnership with the City of Palo Alto conducted a tabletop exercise focused on the San Francisquito Creek Multi-Agency Coordination (SFC MAC) plan. A tabletop exercise is a discussion-based exercise responding to a scenario intended to generate a dialogue about various issues, such as plans, policies, or procedures. The exercise was focused on enhancing the coordination between the multiple agencies that would be involved in response to a flooding event along San Francisquito Creek. Over 65 representatives from 30 organizations participated in the exercise. In addition to the organizations listed above, the City of Menlo Park, City of East Palo Alto along with Stanford University, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Woodside Fire Protection District, National Weather Service, Santa Clara County Office of Emergency Management, San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District, California Highway Patrol, and the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority participated in the exercise. The updated San Francisquito Creek Quick Guide was used during this exercise.
KPI #4: (Effectiveness)
- On March 18, 2024, Valley Water staff met with the San Francisquito Creek Multi-Agency Coordination (SFC MAC) group coordinator to finalize the draft of the After-Action Report for the prior year’s tabletop exercise. An After-Action Report is a structured review of an exercise, to assess what happened, what went well, and what needs improvement. It includes a summary of objectives, key findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for future training. An After-Action Meeting includes representatives from all the organizations that participated in the exercise, is held to review the report’s findings, and adopt an improvement plan based on the report’s findings.
- On May 9, 2024, Valley Water conducted a tabletop exercise of the Lower Penitencia Creek Watershed EAP with the City of Milpitas.
February 2025
No current documents.
FY22-36 Key Performance Indicator for the Safe, Clean Water Program
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Coordinate with local municipalities to merge Valley Water-endorsed flood emergency processes with their own emergency response plans and processes.
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Complete five (5) flood management plans/procedures per 5-year period, selected by risk priorities.
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Train Valley Water staff and partner municipalities annually on disaster procedures via drills and exercises before testing the plans and procedures.
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Test flood management plans/procedures annually to ensure effectiveness.
Benefits
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Reduces flood damage
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Improves flood preparedness
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Provides effective coordinated response to disaster-related emergencies
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Improves community awareness about disaster-related risks
Geographic Area of Benefit
Countywide
About the Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program
In November 2020, voters in Santa Clara County overwhelmingly approved Measure S, a renewal of Valley Water’s Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program.
The program was first passed by voters in 2000 as the Clean, Safe Creeks and Natural Flood Protection Plan, then again in 2012 as the Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program. The renewal of the Safe, Clean Water Program will continue to provide approximately $47 million annually for local projects that deliver safe, clean water, natural flood protection, and environmental stewardship to all the communities we serve in Santa Clara County.
While evaluating ways to improve the 2012 program, Valley Water gathered feedback from more than 21,000 community members. That helped Valley Water create the six priorities for the renewed Safe, Clean Water Program, which are:
Priority A: Ensure a Safe, Reliable Water Supply
Priority B: Reduce Toxins, Hazards and Contaminants in our Waterways
Priority C: Protect our Water Supply and Dams from Earthquakes and Other Natural Disasters
Priority D: Restore Wildlife Habitat and Provide Open Space
Priority E: Provide Flood Protection to Homes, Businesses, Schools, Streets and Highways
Priority F: Support Public Health and Public Safety for Our Community
Each year, Valley Water prepares a report providing a progress update for each of these program priorities, along with fiscal year accomplishments.
To ensure transparency and accountability to the voters, the ballot measure also created an Independent Monitoring Committee, appointed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors. The Independent Monitoring Committee annually reviews the program’s progress to ensure the outcomes are achieved in a cost-efficient manner and reports its findings to the Board. Additionally, the IMC also reviews each proposed 5-year implementation plan prior to its submittal for Board approval.
In addition, the program requires three independent audits.