The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Water district to fix bridge, troubled waters and channels
By HUGH BIGGAR
A parcel tax passed by voters in 2000 is inching toward concrete reality in Cupertino and Sunnyvale.
The measure levies about $39 per resident through 2016 to provide improvements to aging, flood-prone water district facilities. With its recent approval of a 2006-07 budget, the Santa Clara Valley Water District expects about $19 million to be available to begin the flood-projection work.
In Cupertino, this includes upgrades to several bridges over Calabazas Creek, and in Sunnyvale it includes repairs to the Sunnyvale East Channel and the Sunnyvale West Channel.
"The water district met with the cities and the communities to identify places for improvement, and these key projects emerged," said Mike Di Marco, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Di Marco said rapid residential and commercial development in the Santa Clara Valley has led to large volumes of water runoff during storms, making flood problems acute.
"The Sunnyvale [channels] don't have the capacity to absorb it," he said.
"During the storms last winter, one of the levees along the Sunnyvale East Channel leaked, so we had to sandbag it to prevent major street flooding."
In addition to rebuilding levees along the channels, which run from Highways 280 and 101 to the South San Francisco Bay through the Guadalupe Slough, the water district also plans to fix erosion and subsidence problems in the Sunnyvale channels.
In Cupertino, the major project will be replacing a bridge crossing Bollinger Road at Calabazas Creek. Other bridges crossing the creek, such as the one at Rainbow Avenue, will also be repaired.
"The Bollinger Road bridge opening [is] not wide enough let flood waters through," said resident Tom Schaefer, who lives downstream from the bridge.
During storms, flood waters can spill out into nearby streets, flooding homes and streets, he said. As a result, Schaefer and other neighbors formed the Friends of Calabazas Creek in 1995.
"We wanted the water district to fix the bridge and leave the rest of the creek alone," Schaefer said, adding he was pleased their efforts have paid off.
The Cupertino projects are scheduled to be completed June 2013, the Sunnyvale East Channel by June 2016 and the West Channel by June 2011.
"We're moving at the speed of government," Di Marco said.
