Watershed Master Plan

Valley Water faces the challenge of delivering reliable water supply, maintained and improved flood risk reduction, and preserved and enhanced environmental stewardship with finite resources. To do this well, Valley Water needs a decision-making process to strategically allocate limited resources towards actions that most efficiently achieve its mission and service to the community. To meet this need, this One Water planning effort provides an important new roadmap for integrated resource planning on a watershed scale.

HOW WILL THE PLAN WORK?

The tiered plan begins with a countywide framework (Tier I) to establish guidance for watershed-specific plans. Then each of the five major watersheds in Santa Clara County – Coyote, Guadalupe, Pajaro, West Valley, and Lower Peninsula – will have their own master plan (Tier II) that will guide future decisions on priority actions to protect or enhance our community and environment.

The plans will also provide a basis for partnerships with other agencies, funding initiatives, grant opportunities, and new policy recommendations.

These are intended to lead to:

• An integrated approach to water resources management supported by the community
• A sustainable watershed habitat
• Enhanced relationships with public and regulatory agencies
• Improved living environment for residents and wildlife

We estimate that it will take up to three years to complete the plans for all five watersheds, following completion of the countywide plan. The first watershed-specific plan will be Coyote Watershed (draft complete), followed by Guadalupe and Pajaro, and then Lower Peninsula and West Valley watersheds. We anticipate the implementation of these plans will lead to new projects, programs, policies and partnerships.

MEASURING PROGRESS

One key to making One Water a successful plan is its measurable objectives. By establishing a baseline and target conditions for each objective, Valley Water can help track improvements in watershed health and water resources management.

Table 4-2 below represents draft measures for assessing the status of the five objectives in the One Water Plan. Each objective (A thru E) will be measured via specific attributes and metrics, and watershed targets where applicable, as described in the One Water Countywide Framework and subsequent watershed plans. Priority actions will be determined in part by how they improve conditions toward meeting targets.

NATIVE ECOSYSTEM ENHANCEMENT TOOLS

Valley Water is working with San Francisco Estuary Institute/Aquatic Science Center (SFEI-ASC) on the development of Native Ecosystem Enhancement Tools. These tools build on the priorities actions in the Watershed Master Plans to identify more detailed habitat enhancement opportunities along select waterways.

Coyote Creek Native Ecosystem Enhancement Tool (CCNEET)

CCNEET is an online decision-support tool to identify and coordinate habitat actions to improve ecological conditions along Coyote Creek, from Anderson Dam to Montague Expressway. Inspired by the need for a watershed approach to environmental resource management, project planning, and permitting, an overarching goal of CCNEET is to help coordinate habitat conservation and enhancement so that multiple projects and limited funding can result in meaningful ecological improvement of the creek. Use the CCNEET toolset to see first-hand how Project D5 data has been applied to watershed and ecological enhancement planning. 

Upper Pajaro Native Ecosystem Enhancement Tool (UPNEET)

A similar tool to CCNEET is now underway for the Upper Pajaro River Watershed. The beta version of UPNEET is currently under review.