Saratoga News

Water district puts off flood-control election

By Julie Mehta

Despite the storms that recently pummeled the West Valley, the Santa Clara Valley Water District last week deferred plans for a March election on proposed flood-control improvements to area creeks.

After hearing a torrent of objections, the district's seven-member board of directors voted unanimously to not ask voters to approve an increase in benefit assessments until the staff details exactly what work is needed and its potential environmental impact.

The proposal discussed, which will now be on the ballot no earlier than next November, nearly triples the benefit assessment for the North Central Zone from $15 to $43 per year until the year 2010. The additional monies would be used for various projects in the zone, which covers parts of Saratoga, Cupertino Sunnyvale, San Jose, Santa Clara, Campbell, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos.

The principal work proposed would occur along the Calabazas Creek from Miller Avenue in Cupertino to Wardell Road in Saratoga and has a price tag of $24 million.

Several residents of that area were among the 20-plus people who addressed the board at the public hearing on the morning of Dec. 19. Many attendees had to watch the meeting on closed-circuit televisions set up in the lobby because the small board room was filled before the meeting began.

Speakers at last week's hearing came from all over the North Central Zone as well as the Central Zone, which was to vote on improvements to the Guadalupe River. Its election was also postponed.

Residents of the Calabazas Creek area indicated they did not think there was significant flood risk to warrant such an expensive project and that they feared destruction of the riparian habitat and loss of property value.

"I don't mind paying more money if it's necessary. Right now, I don't see that this is necessary," said Bob Good, a Cupertino resident.

Al Wigger has lived on the creek for more than 35 years and said he believes only minor work is needed to secure the area from flooding. He said the creek is home to white, valley and live oak trees, sycamores, willows, elderberry, periwinkle,opossums, raccoons, squirrels and great-horned and screech owls.

"I enjoy the creek. It's the focal point of being able to call my house home," Wigger told the board.

Wigger became involved with the creek issue after learning of it from neighbor Tom Schaefer, who lives on the creek between Miller Avenue and Bollinger Road. Schaefer spearheaded the effort to inform other creek residents about the proposed project after receiving a notice about the proposal from the water district. He walked along the creek to Blaney Avenue, distributing nearly 200 fliers urging neighbors to note the possibly harmful effects of flood-control work along the creek.

In his letter, he cited work currently under way on the creek near Homestead Road in Sunnyvale, where "almost all trees and vegetation have been removed, channel and banks reshaped and bulldozed to a precise cross-section." A followup letter he passed out says the large amount of money earmarked for the new project leads him to believe a similar scenario is planned for his area.

"I sure don't want this turned into a concrete channel," Schaefer said. "The main reason I bought this house was because of the backyard and the nice view. ...I don't feel there's any risk of flooding where I live.

He said he does recognize that there are erosion problems in the area, but wants the district to move slowly in remedying these and to make every effort to preserve the creek's natural state.

Teddy Morse, the district's public information officer, noted that "in the North Central Zone, they are less supportive of flood control because they didn't get flooded last year. ...We have lots of community education to do."

The national standard for flood protection is based on what is called the 100-year event, the type of flood that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year. Protecting against flooding usually entails widening creek channels, reinforcing banks, and raising levees, Morse said.

She said the district is not currently getting federal or state funding, so it is relying solely on property taxes and benefit assessments for flood control. At the current assessment rate, which expires in 2000, Morse said the district will not be able to maintain completed flood-control projects, much less start new ones.

At the public hearing, several organizations, including the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, the Santa Clara County Manufacturing Group, and the Tri-County Apartment Association, joined residents in asking that the flood-control vote be put off.