Mr. Marc Klemencic Manager, Coyote Watershed Santa Clara Valley Water District 5750 Almaden Expressway San Jose, CA 95118-3686
Dear Mr. Klemencic,
Thank you for the time and effort given to the District's Open House on June 1, 2009 at Olinder School. The Open House presented a number of options for flood control along the Mid-Coyote Creek. Naglee Park residents reviewed these options and have charged the CCA, Campus Community Association, with neighborhood oversight of the Coyote Creek Flood Project.
We are very supportive of a City of San Jose, Santa Clara Valley Water District, and Community task force to provide public information, public query, and public input regarding flood control projects that address Coyote Creek. It has been four months since the open house on June 1, 2009 and we are disappointed that this task force has not convened. While we understand the need for research and analysis on various options by the staff at the water district, we believe an immediate and ongoing public discussion of the creek and flood control issues is critical to a best solution for the community. At this time the water district is working on options with some informal public input but no formal public input. We ask that you work with the City of San Jose and the Community to convene a first meeting of the task force by December 1, 2009 so that public input can be duly considered as staff is studying technical aspects of the issue.
At this time the proposed options have a severe negative impact to the Naglee Park neighborhood with negligible benefit to the neighborhood. As the options are developed and evaluated the Naglee Park neighborhood wishes to become informed on why this project is proposed, what options are being evaluated, and the impacts and benefits to the various neighborhoods affected by each proposed option.
This would include a full understanding of which areas of the city that are relatively far from the creek benefit from the proposed flood control. As currently shown, the Naglee Park neighborhood and other neighborhoods in Central San Jose are the focus of the flood control project. Meanwhile, other areas that are impacted more severely by a 1% event have not been studied for flood control solutions and would not be impacted at all by this construction project. We need to understand why this situation exists. We request that all possible solutions be studied and that the impact of the project to a particular area be proportional to the benefit which that particular area will gain with the completion of the proposed project.
There are a number of questions that came out of the Open House. Below is a list of those questions that we would like addressed at the first meeting of the public task force. Thank you for your time. We look forward to working with the District and all stakeholders toward a resolution of the Coyote Creek issues.
Technical Questions 1. How does the water district define a 1% event? Is it strictly runoff driven or does it include a potential dam failure? If it is strictly runoff driven, is it the result of Anderson Reservoir spilling over? 2. Suppose that Coyote Creek watershed experiences a 100-year storm and that Anderson Dam does not overspill. In that scenario will Coyote Creek flood, and if so in what areas will that flooding occur? 3. What are the possible options for upstream flood diversion and detention? The options we saw at the Open House did not have this included.
Near Term Homeowner Questions 4. What are the water districts plans for Coyote Creek maintenance going forward? 5. How does the Water District plan to deal with property and real estate issues that affected property owners now face as a result of the options published by the District? Many property owners feel they are required to disclose to potential buyers that the District plans to implement flood control measures along Coyote Creek and that their property may be affected.
Project Questions 6. What is the status of funding for the Mid-Coyote Creek Project? How many reaches are funded? What are the potential sources of funding? 7. What options are the Water District evaluating for the project at this time?
Sincerely,
Dennis Cunningham President Campus Community Association
Copy: Rick Callender, Santa Clara Valley Water District Joe Coto, 23rd Assembly District Beau Goldie, Santa Clara Valley Water District, Chief Executive Officer Joe Judge, Santa Clara Valley Water District Board Member Liang Lee, Santa Clara Valley Water District, Coyote Watershed Manager Sam Liccardo, San Jose City Councilmember Zoe Lofgren, Congresswoman, U.S. House of Representatives
