Massive reservoir proposal heating up
Panel set to vote on $2.3B project at today’s meeting
After more than four years of planning, study and political debate, a proposal to build a $2.3 billion reservoir in Santa Clara County — the largest reservoir constructed in the Bay Area in more than 20 years — will reach a makeor-break moment.
The California Water Commission, a 9-member panel appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, was scheduled to vote Dec. 15 on whether the project, which would be located near Pacheco Pass, will continue to be eligible to receive $496 million in state funding.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District, which is pushing the plan, says the reservoir is needed to boost water storage for future droughts.
“We represent Silicon Valley. That’s serious business,” said Tony Estremera, chairman of the water district, a government agency based in San Jose. “We have to be prudent. We have 2 million people, with more and more everyday.”
Critics, who include environmental groups, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and ranch owners, say the project is too expensive, having roughly tripled in price since 2017. They say it would harm the environment and should be replaced with other options, including expanding recycled water, boosting groundwater storage and raising the height of existing dams.
Some opponents also are concerned that when full, the reservoir would flood a small part of Henry W. Coe State Park’s southern boundary, about 13 acres, east of Morgan Hill.
“It’s pretty darned expensive for little benefit,” said Ron Stork, policy advocate for Friends of the River, a Sacramento environmental group. “And you can’t put a reservoir on a state park. That’s ground that is not theirs to use. They’d have to change state law to do that.”
Plans call for a 320-foothigh dam to be built on the North Fork of Pacheco Creek in the rural canyons about 2 miles north of Highway 152, east of Casa de Fruta.
Construction would start in 2025 and finish in 2032. The reservoir would submerge 1,367 acres and have a 35-mile shoreline.
Some of that land belongs to the family of Ken Lawler, who has owned a ranch there since 1963 when his father and grandfathers, both Salinas doctors, purchased it.
“I’ve been going there since I was four years old,” Lawler said. “It’s a very special spot for our family. We’re up to five generations of Lawlers that have enjoyed the ranch.”
Lawler said he hopes the California Water Commission will deny the project, and that the district will invest in other options, including groundwater storage and recycled water.
The project would construct a reservoir to hold 141,000 acre feet of water, replacing a small reservoir built in 1939. The new Pacheco reservoir — 23 times bigger — would be built upstream.
It would be the largest new reservoir built in the Bay Area since 1998 when the Contra Costa Water District built Los Vaqueros Reservoir in eastern Contra Costa County. It also would rank as the fourth largest reservoir in the Bay Area, behind Lake Berryessa in Napa County, Lake Sonoma in Sonoma County and Los Vaqueros.
The district hopes to take water it now stores nearby in the massive San Luis Reservoir and pipe it to a new Pacheco reservoir, filling it during wet years.
In addition to storing more water for dry years, district officials say that the project also would provide a more regular supply of water downstream for endangered steelhead trout.
The project received a huge boost in 2018 when the administration of former Gov. Jerry Brown awarded it $485 million from Proposition 1, a $7.5 billion water bond passed by voters in 2014. But to remain eligible for that money, the district must complete draft environmental studies by Dec. 31 and show how it will pay for most of the rest of the costs.
The district released its draft environmental study last month. But it has run into big problems with the project’s price tag. In 2017, the agency estimated it would cost about $800 million. By the following year, the price jumped to $969 million, then $1.3 billion by 2020. In January, the district announced the cost had skyrocketed to $2.5 billion after geological studies found rock in the area was unstable.
The latest plan would move the dam further upstream, but its price still would be $2.3 billion.
Critics say that’s outrageously high and will gouge ratepayers. They note that the district’s staff in April issued a report showing the cost would be $18,800 an acre foot, double the cost of expanding Los Vaqueros in Contra Costa County or raising the height of Sisk Dam on San Luis Reservoir. It’s 20 times the cost of groundwater storage projects in the San Joaquin Valley and Palm Desert areas that the district could use.
The district, also known as Valley Water, has not secured federal funding or funding from other Bay Area water districts, meaning its ratepayers could pay all the costs.
“Financing this dam will more than triple Valley Water’s debt,” said Jeffrey Michael, an economist at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. “There are far less expensive water storage and conservation projects that ought to be prioritized instead.”
Estremera, the board chairman, said the district is moving forward with expanding groundwater storage, conservation incentives, and recycled water, and is helping fund the Los Vaqueros expansion. He said rate increases could be offset if the district can get some funding from President Biden’s recent infrastructure bill.
If the water commission finds Dec. 15 that the Pacheco project is still feasible, it won’t release the $496 million until all the permits are in hand. Lawsuits are almost certain to follow.
“Our proposals is very solid,” he said. “We’re continuing forward. I think the commission is going to support us.”