- by Dave Eggerton and Rick Callender
- Jun 14, 2024
- Voices on Water
The evidence is overwhelming. We are experiencing the impacts of climate change now. Our wet years are becoming warmer and wetter. Our dry years are becoming drier, warmer, and more frequent. This extreme weather creates dangerous and costly consequences in the Bay Area and across California.
In the past 12 years, California has endured two multi-year droughts, including a stretch from 2020 to 2022 that was the state’s driest three-year period on record. California also experienced two of the wettest winters on record, fueled by a parade of atmospheric rivers that caused flooding in Santa Clara County and across the state. If we fail to invest in infrastructure now, we all will face serious challenges with disadvantaged communities bearing the worst through unaffordable water and increased flooding.
That’s why Valley Water and the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) are advocating for a Climate Resilience Bond to be placed on the November ballot with two-thirds of the funding going to water infrastructure. If passed by voters, this general obligation bond would fund investments that protect California from the impacts of climate change, including infrastructure for water, drought and flood preparedness, protection from wildfires and sea level rise, and other critical natural resource issues.
Extended droughts and less snowpack in the Sierra Nevada are in our future. We must capture precipitation during warmer, wetter years. We need improved conveyance facilities to move water to storage for beneficial uses for people and the environment. We also need to strengthen our existing dams and reservoirs to withstand seismic events for public safety and to regain access to their original capacities to store essential water supplies in preparation for drought.
Whether it is drought, flood, or sea level rise, Valley Water is on the frontlines in the fight against climate change. Our work to rebuild Anderson Dam, the largest drinking water reservoir in Santa Clara County, will enable us to safely store water for drought and better respond when intensified storms threaten downstream flooding. Valley Water is also working to expand our county’s reliance on recycled and purified water to meet at least 10% of our county’s water demands. We must develop large-scale purified water as a drought-proof supply.
Let’s not forget that rising temperatures also increase the need for flood protection. Studies indicate that San Francisco Bay will experience a 13 to 23-inch rise in sea level by 2050, leaving the Bay Area at great risk of coastal flooding. Valley Water continues to work on the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project, which will provide coastal flood protection to businesses, residents and other critical infrastructure all while restoring and protecting wetlands. Despite the Shoreline Project’s critical importance, full funding is still not secured.
All these projects are costly and necessary in our efforts to become climate resilient, and they total more than local water ratepayers and taxpayers can fund on their own. Environmental justice is served with a Climate Resilience Bond that more equitably funds projects that protect communities from flooding and provide Californians access to safe and affordable drinking water.
Our state, regional, and local water systems were not designed for extreme weather. Because water infrastructure projects often take decades to design and construct, the Legislature must act now. Our children, grandchildren and future generations are counting on us.
Rick Callender is the Chief Executive Officer of Valley Water. Dave Eggerton is the Executive Director of the Association of California Water Agencies.
