Earthquake retrofit project to leave drinking water supply in Santa Clara County, California, dry

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The earthquake retrofit project for Santa Clara County, California’s largest source of drinking water, will be decommissioned within the next decade.

A new earthquake retrofit project for Santa Clara County, California’s largest source of drinking water, will be out of service over the next decade.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District held a celebratory event on July 7, a large outlet tunnel at Anderson Dam on Morgan Hill, the San Jose Spotlight reports. Local officials have already imposed 15% cuts in water use due to harsh drought conditions.

The project will require draining the Anderson Reservoir, rendering it unusable for 10 years, KTVU Fox 2 News reported.

According to the Santa Clara Valley Water District, known as Valley Waters, Anderson Reservoir is currently limited to about 3% of its capacity due to earthquake fears.

This project will consist of seismic modifications of the Anderson Dam to improve reliability and safety and return the reservoir to its original storage capacity, according to the San Jose Spotlight.

“This project puts our water supply back in place once this project is built,” Valley Water CEO Rick Callender said in a report for the San Jose Spotlight. We will recover 90,000 acres of water in the valley. We need this project to supply us with water.”

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The tunnel spans 1,700 feet and will be built next to the existing dam, with the goal of releasing more water from the area during storm events or emergencies.

This is the first phase of the Anderson Dam seismic retrofit project to strengthen the dam in preparation for future earthquakes. Once the tunnel is complete, some of the levee levees will be rebuilt as well, according to The San Jose Spotlight. Work on the rest of the project is scheduled to start in 2024 and finish in 2031.

It is estimated that the total cost of the project is about $616 million ($648 million with inflation), with the tunnel portion of the project estimated to cost $162 million, according to the San Jose Spotlight.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the Anderson Reservoir to be drained for public safety in February 2020, so the county’s largest drinking water reservoir won’t be able to store water for the next 10 years, according to Mercury News.

The project was approved as part of the Safe and Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program.

Valley Water is asking residents to limit lawn watering to three days a week and engage in fewer home car washes without nozzle shut-off hoses, The San Jose Spotlight reports. Restaurants are also advised not to give glasses of water unless customers request, and officials are urged not to fill or refill swimming pools.

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