Dam project leaves Santa Clara County’s largest source of drinking water dry

A new earthquake retrofit project will take Santa Clara County’s largest drinking water supply out of service over the next decade.

Amid a massive drought that has forced local officials to impose 15% reductions in water use, the Santa Clara Valley Water District held a celebratory feast on its latest project Wednesday — a large outlet tunnel at Anderson Dam in Morgan Hill.

The tunnel, which spans 1,700 feet and will be built next to the existing dam, will help release more water from the area during storms or emergencies.

The tunnel project is the first phase of the Anderson Dam major seismic upgrade project to strengthen the dam in preparation for the next major earthquake. After the tunnel is completed, Valley Water will rebuild some of the levee dams to make it more stable.

The rest of the retrofit project is scheduled to begin in 2024 – when the tunnel is expected to be completed – and finish in 2031.

Current estimates put the project’s total cost at $616 million, or $648 million with inflation. The cost of the tunnel portion of the project is estimated at about $162 million.

Once complete, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, known as Valley Waters, hopes to fill Anderson Dam at full capacity again. The reservoir is currently about 3% of its capacity of 90,000 acres.

“This project puts us back in the water supply once this project is built,” said Rick Callender, CEO of Valley Water. We will recover 90,000 acres of water in the valley. We need this project to supply us with water.”

In 2011 Valley Water released a report saying that the dam was unstable and likely would not survive a strong earthquake. In response, the district lobbied for Action S in 2012, which helped fund nearly $65 million for the project.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the Anderson Reservoir to be drained for public safety in February 2020. This means that the largest drinking water reservoir in Santa Clara County will not be able to store water for the next 10 years during the project’s construction timeline.

Representative Ro Khanna (D-17) addresses the media before a ceremonial opening at Anderson Dam on July 7, 2021. Photo by Lloyd Alban.

Wednesday’s press conference attracted elected officials such as Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Ro Khanna and Assemblyman Ash Kalra.

Lofgren led quarterly meetings at the federal level to advance the project. According to research from her office, if an earthquake damaged the dam while it was operating at full capacity, Morgan Hill would be submerged under 35 feet of water within 14 minutes.

“We have a good chance of repairing this (dam), so when the drought passes, we will have the capacity to set up this storage facility,” Lofgren told the San José Spotlight.

Anderson Dam was completed in 1950. The dam created Anderson Reservoir at Coyote Creek east of Morgan Hill.

The retrofit comes during tough times: Valley Water declared a water shortage emergency last month and set goals to reduce water use countywide by 15% from 2019 levels due to a statewide drought. Although the project could exacerbate water scarcity, officials say it is critical to make sure the area can prepare itself for future droughts and other disasters.

“When you have more storage and you have more water supply, you can approach drought a little differently,” Callender said. “We still have more to do. This is just part of the puzzle.”

In response to construction and drought, Valley Water is asking residents to limit their lawn watering to three days per week and reduce the number of times they wash cars at home without shut-off hoses. Restaurants are advised not to give glasses of water unless requested by customers, and officials urged not to fill or refill swimming pools.

Anderson Reservoir after laying the foundation stone on Wednesday. Photography by Lloyd Alban.

More than 20 miles north of the reservoir, the project has special meaning for those south and east of San Jose. More than 14,000 people were displaced by flooding in those parts of the city in February 2017.

During the flood, the Anderson Dam overflowed for the first time since 2006, which was responsible for flooding in parts of the city near Kelly Park and the Rock Springs neighborhood.

“I have residents from Rock Springs who are still displaced and have not returned because of the flood,” said Maya Esparza, a board member for San Jose, which includes Rock Springs County.

Esparza added that she was impressed with the coordination between Valley Water and state and federal governments on the Anderson Dam project.

“This project is critical to saving human life,” she said.

Editor’s note: Rick Callender serves on the San Jose Spotlight Board of Directors.

Contact Lloyd Alaban at [email protected] Or follow @lloydalaban on Twitter.

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