The one-mile stretch of land along the Coyote Creek in San Jose is home to approximately 100 unhoused residents.

After being contacted by the District Attorney’s Office, Granite Rock installed water treatment systems along Coyote Creek and agreed to five years training, testing and oversight conditions.   

The lawsuit settled this month by Valley Water with more than 200 property owners along Coyote Creek stemmed from a February 2017 flood when the Anderson Dam in Morgan Hill overflowed, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents in South San Jose.

In sleepy Alviso, it’s a race against the clock to coordinate an engineering miracle to help keep rising waters at bay.

Over the last few years—and especially during the Covid-19 pandemic—Santa Clara County's Coyote Creek watershed has become an inflection point for how the South Bay must address issues surrounding its homelessness crisis and the environmental impact of creekside encampments.

Valley Water began draining the reservoir in October in response to a directive from federal regulators aiming to expedite the dam retrofit.

Anderson Reservoir will be closed to boating, fishing and all recreational activities for the next several years starting Oct. 1.

The fish—classified as threatened species—needed to be relocated before the agency starts to drain Anderson Dam on Oct. 1.

More than 13,000 firefighters throughout the state are battling record blazes that have darkened skies and forced 100,000 evacuations.

Cal Fire announced new evacuation orders for the eastern edge of Santa Clara County, where the SCU Complex keeps growing.

AB 3005, dubbed the Expedited Dam Safety for Silicon Valley Act, was authored by Assemblyman Robert Rivas (D-Hollister).

Valley Water’s board vice chair, Tony Estremera, says the agency is ready to quickly respond to a variety of emergencies.

Jeff Scott, spokesman for the city’s housing department, acknowledged that “it doesn’t typically take this long” to pay folks back.

Maintenance staff took advantage of the dry weather earlier this week by finishing up some upgrades at the base of the dam.

Once Valley Water hears from the community, its team will refine the proposed solutions and present a preferred alternative to the Board of Directors.

Valley Water says the improvements are proof of its dedication to keeping residents and businesses safe from future floods.