See more photos…
Drought Tour Pt2: Valley Water HQs, 8/18/21 by Ronald Horii
This is a continuation of my drought tour of the Guadalupe River watershed in the Almaden Valley. After touring the Guadalupe River Trail and percolation ponds, I went to see the Alamitos percolation ponds around Valley Water's headquarters. Valley Water, formerly called the Santa Clara Valley Water District, is ground zero for managing the county's water supplies during the drought. They are the water wholesaler. They take water from multiple sources, including surface water, groundwater, and imported water, and provide it to water retailers, like the San Jose Water Company. They own most of the reservoirs in the county, which store rainwater. The water then flows into creeks and percolation ponds. The water percolates into underground aquifers, which are pumped out as groundwater. Because of insufficient rainwater to fill the reservoirs, there is little water flowing down the creeks to fill the percolation ponds. Many of them are dry. While some ponds can be filled with imported water from the Delta, that water source has been cut back. That's why we're in a water crisis.
............................
Here are the other parts of the tour:
Drought Tour Pt1: Guadalupe River Trail, Perc Ponds, 7/27,8/18/21
https://tinyurl.com/5dwc4heb
............................
Drought Tour Pt3: Guadalupe Creek Trail, Perc. Ponds, 8/18/21
https://tinyurl.com/4m76bjsx
............................
Drought Tour Pt4: Los Alamitos/Calero Creek, 8/18/21
https://tinyurl.com/9mtf8sn4
............................
Here's Valley Water's website: https://www.valleywater.org/
............................
Here's their drought information page: https://beheard.valleywater.org/drought-information
This is a continuation of my drought tour of the Guadalupe River watershed in the Almaden Valley. After touring the Guadalupe River Trail and percolation ponds, I went to see the Alamitos percolation ponds around Valley Water's headquarters. Valley Water, formerly called the Santa Clara Valley Water District, is ground zero for managing the county's water supplies during the drought. They are the water wholesaler. They take water from multiple sources, including surface water, groundwater, and imported water, and provide it to water retailers, like the San Jose Water Company. They own most of the reservoirs in the county, which store rainwater. The water then flows into creeks and percolation ponds. The water percolates into underground aquifers, which are pumped out as groundwater. Because of insufficient rainwater to fill the reservoirs, there is little water flowing down the creeks to fill the percolation ponds. Many of them are dry. While some ponds can be filled with imported water from the Delta, that water source has been cut back. That's why we're in a water crisis.
............................
Here are the other parts of the tour:
Drought Tour Pt1: Guadalupe River Trail, Perc Ponds, 7/27,8/18/21
https://tinyurl.com/5dwc4heb
............................
Drought Tour Pt3: Guadalupe Creek Trail, Perc. Ponds, 8/18/21
https://tinyurl.com/4m76bjsx
............................
Drought Tour Pt4: Los Alamitos/Calero Creek, 8/18/21
https://tinyurl.com/9mtf8sn4
............................
Here's Valley Water's website: https://www.valleywater.org/
............................
Here's their drought information page: https://beheard.valleywater.org/drought-information
