Governor Approves $7 Million for Flood Protections in San Jose, Palo Alto, Mountain View

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill that will bring up to $7 million for flood control infrastructure in the South Bay.

Senate Bill 881, introduced by state Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) will help bring state funding for the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project led by the Santa Clara Valley Water District and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“With climate change bringing about increased storm intensity and sea level rise, the Shoreline Project is a critical collaboration of federal, state and local agencies,” said Wieckowski, who chairs the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. “I applaud the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s leadership on this vital project.”

The shoreline project combines wetlands restoration with levee construction to protect residents and Silicon Valley businesses in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and San Jose—including the waterfront community of Alviso—from flooding, increasingly severe storms and rising seas induced by climate change.

“This project is vital to our economy and the safety of our community,” water district board chair Richard Santos said in a prepared statement.

President Obama authorized the shoreline plan in 2016 as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, which appropriated $177 million in federal funds for such projects.

The first phase of construction includes a new 4-mile levee along the shoreline and restoration of 2,900 acres of former salt-production ponds into tidal marsh habitat.

4 Comments

    • You’re right that $11 or $7 million won’t buy much, but this is just part of the total package to construct the project. Most of the money will come from the Federal government.

      A more complete story on what’s going on here would be good. I learned quite a bit from people at the Don Edwards Environmental Center in Alviso. The project will be run by the Army Corps of Engineers, but will include other agencies and the state. Very critical are the elements that determine how much is done for flooding protection, and how much is done to continue the habitat restoration that’s been going on for over a decade now.

      Please examine in more depth!

  1. Have the Santa Clara County inmates clean out the creeks and waterways… Then there’s plenty of room for that wire to run

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