Photograph by Aaron Suozzi

Raging River: The Guadalupe River flooded in 1995, damaging many Willow Glen homes. The Water District is proposing a plan to help control the flooding.

Local leaders look for flood money to keep Willow Glen high and dry

Mike Honda's flood control legislation gains support in the state legislature

By Mary Spicuzza

Judy Stabile says she never knew how quickly flood waters could rise. Until 1995, that is, when the then-director of the historic Peralta Adobe Fallon House watched muddy water flooding over the stairwells and into the site's basement exhibit.

"Luckily, there were some folks there to help," says Stabile, who now works for San Jose's Downtown Association. "We were trying to lift artifacts above the water ... unfortunately some of them were wired down."

She also remembers hearing bizarre noises outside as she scrambled to save local artifacts. Once she made it outside, she looked on as the earth collapsed forming a 12-foot sinkhole just outside the historic landmark.

"And we weren't even that close to the river," soft-spoken Stabile adds excitedly. "It was an interesting time."

During the floods of 1995, more than 150 homes in Willow Glen and South San Jose were damaged. Highway 87 and the light rail system were buried in water 6 feet deep as the Guadalupe River swelled over its banks, dumping into the homes of residents and into the paths of rush-hour Silicon Valley commuters.

Unlike lightning, floods often strike in the same place. Damaging floodwaters have swept through the upper Guadalupe River area five times in the past 15 years, and experts predict more expensive flood damage as property values soar and San Jose continues to grow.

This week, as Glenites battle over monster homes, Assemblymember Mike Honda (D-San Jose) is busy working to ensure that new and older homes alike will be protected from further flood damage in the future. This Tuesday, AB 1147, a bill authorizing a flood protection project for the upper Guadalupe River, goes before the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee in Sacramento. If it passes and goes to the appropriations committee and on to the Senate, it will be a linchpin in ensuring that the Guadalupe River Master Plan can go forward.

"Flood protection projects are an investment in our community's future," Honda says. "And an investment that protects the personal and financial health, and peace of mind of our communities during a potential disaster while ultimately saving taxpayer money."

Silicon Valley's ongoing flooding woes have helped make Honda's bill popular among local legislators. Assembly members Elaine Alquist, Jim Cunneen, Ted Lempert and Manuel Machado have signed on as co-authors, in addition to Senators Bruce McPherson and Byron Sher. And folks at the Santa Clara Valley Water District hope public support will finally provide the push the bill needs, so they can launch their long-awaited project.

"San Jose is a major economic engine for the state," Mike Di Marco, spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, says. "If people in Silicon Valley can't get to work, that's a major economic blow to the state."

A study completed in 1989 by the Army Corps of Engineers estimated that the blow from a severe flood--which they call a "one percent flood"--in the upper river would wreak $200 million worth of damage. The Corps reports estimate a flood would damage more than 8,000 homes and businesses, six elementary schools and several major thoroughfares like Highway 87 and Interstate 280.

The area covered in the water district's Upper Guadalupe River Flood Protection Project includes five miles stretching from Interstate 280 to Blossom Hill Road--and some of San Jose's oldest residential areas.

"We've put together plans for the project," Di Marco says. "The Environmental Impact Study is all done. We just don't have the funding."

Honda's bill doesn't guarantee funding, which is estimated at $132 million. But it provides a necessary step in obtaining federal, state and local money for the project. Only after authorization can a district qualify for funding.

Recently there have been extensive changes in the handling of flood protection in the legislature, but luckily Honda already knows his way around the Water, Parks and Wildlife committee. He sat on the board for two years, from 1996 to 1998.

"Honda has a strong understanding of these issues," Jennifer Van der Heide, Honda's legislative director, says. "And Santa Clara [County]'s water board has an excellent reputation. Both have helped in raising support for the bill."

Memories like Judy Stabile's frantic rush to save local treasures have also fueled support for Honda's proposed bill. After watching a historic landmark's entire basement fill with water in 20 minutes, she's become a big advocate for fast action now--before the flood waters begin to rise again.

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