In an ominous sign for an already struggling project, state officials on Wednesday said they are unhappy with the lack of progress over plans by the Santa Clara Valley Water District to build huge new dam near Pacheco Pass and Henry W. Coe State Park in Santa Clara County.
Members of the California Water Commission, an 8-member agency appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that tentatively committed $504 million in state bond funding seven years ago to the $2.7 billion project — and still could revoke it — expressed frustration at the district’s shifting timelines and lack of specifics and accomplishments.
“As we move forward in time, the uncertainties should be decreasing,” said commissioner Sandra Matsumoto. “But I feel like the more we hear from the public, the more additional issues are coming up that make it sound less likely.”
Added commissioner Jose Solorio: “This is more about tracking the progress and making sure these projects are all going forward rather than backward. Maybe down the road we do have to look at ways of lowering investments if there’s not sufficient progress in terms of viability.”
The Santa Clara Valley Water District, a government agency based in San Jose also known as “Valley Water,” provides drinking water and flood control to 2 million people in Santa Clara County.
Its plans call for building a new 320-foot-high earthen dam on the North Fork of Pacheco Creek in rural canyons about 2 miles north of Highway 152, east of Casa de Fruta.
The reservoir would hold 140,000 acre feet of water, and would be filled mostly by piping in water from nearby San Luis Reservoir in wet years that the district buys from state and federal agencies and needs a place to store for dry years.
But the project has run into setback after setback. When the district applied to the state seven years ago for funding under Proposition 1, a water bond passed by voters in 2014, it said the new reservoir would cost $969 million. Since then, the costs have tripled to $2.7 billion. The district also announced then that it would secure partnerships with other large Bay Area water agencies to help share the costs and the water. But none have been signed. The original plans were to break ground in 2024 and finish construction by 2032.
On Wednesday, district officials told the water commission that they still haven’t secured major permits needed to start construction, haven’t secured water rights, and only have completed 30% of the design. They said they wouldn’t be able to break ground until 2029 and won’t complete construction until at least 2036.
District officials said the project had been slowed by lawsuits by environmental groups, discoveries of geological problems in the area, and other issues, with costs driven up by inflation. They estimated that by the middle of next year they will have spent $132 million on the project and completed 60% of the design.
“It is very challenging to do any large infrastructure in California much less dam infrastructure,” said Vincent Gin, a deputy operating officer with the district.
The district’s leaders urged the commission to keep the state money flowing.
“An expanded Pacheco Reservoir is an excellent option for our agency and our region,” said Melanie Richardson, Santa Clara Valley Water District’s interim CEO, told the commission. “It would provide a critical source of emergency storage in the event of an earthquake, a levee failure, or any other catastrophe. Having Pacheco as part of our system would improve our agency’s operational flexibility allowing for more efficient management of our water resources.”
Critics of the project, who include environmental groups and rural landowners whose land would be flooded, say the costs are too high, and that the dam would flood a scenic area important to wildlife like tule elk, bobcats, and golden eagles. They argued the district should instead provide additional water supplies through cheaper alternatives like recycled water, raising the height of the existing dam at San Luis Reservoir, and expanded groundwater banking.
“The environmental impacts are excessive and the benefits are not justified,” said Mike Aviña, an attorney with the Stop Pacheco Dam Coalition.
“Valley Water continues to spend millions of dollars on a project that will cost many, many billions and is not feasible, and encumbers taxpayers and ratepayers with unjustifiable tax and rate increases. Hopefully you will find a way not to promote this,” said Shani Kleinhaus, an advocate with the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance.
Water commission members were particularly incensed that the Santa Clara Valley Water District staff members at the meeting could not provide a specific date when the district will decide whether to move forward with the project or kill it.
“When are you going to be in a position to take this to your board and commit to this project?” said commissioner Alexandre Makler.
“That’s a question I can’t give you a confirmed answer on,” said Ryan McCarter, a deputy operating officer at the water district.
The commission chairwoman, attorney Fern Spivey, a former board member of the director of the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles, said she wanted the Santa Clara Valley Water District to come back in a few months with specific answers.
Other commissioners hinted that the agency could shift the district’s $504 million to other agencies around the state who are making better progress building new reservoirs or groundwater banks.
“The challenge for us is that you are sitting on 20% of the (Proposition 1 water storage) program,” said Matsumoto. “And it has been parked there since 2014. There are many other water districts across the state who would love to have the luxury of half a billion dollars banked and ready to go if a project should get warm enough to opt into that.”
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