Council and Valley Water prepare for El Niño; council asks for ranked flood hotspots

A special joint meeting of the San José City Council and the Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) Board, held at Valley Water headquarters. Both bodies took roll, and the city clerk announced that Matt Mahan (Mayor) was taking part remotely under the Brown Act's just-cause provisions. Leaders of both bodies gave opening remarks on working together ahead of a strong El Niño winter. The agenda says there was no open forum; the public could comment only on agenda items. 00:00:44

• The city clerk announced that the mayor was taking part remotely under the Brown Act's just-cause provisions 00:01:12
• The Valley Water board chair recounted that the two bodies first met jointly in 2002 and have met every year since, putting this at about their twenty-fourth meeting 00:03:55
• The mayor said the agencies have learned a lot since the 2017 floods and are coordinating more closely than ever 00:06:59
• The mayor argued that residents who see a blockage in a creek should not have to think about which agency owns it, and called for clear roles between the agencies 00:08:04
• Pam Foley (Councilmember, District 9; Vice Mayor) announced there would be no open forum and asked elected officials to keep their comments to three minutes because of a two-hour limit 00:10:54

Valley Water and city staff jointly briefed both bodies on preparing for a strong El Niño in the 2026-2027 rainy season. The agenda asked both bodies to receive an update on their coordination in case of flooding. The briefing covered who owns and maintains creeks, the agencies' joint emergency action plan, public outreach, sandbags, flood insurance and help for creekside property owners. Residents and officials pressed on creek blockages, unhoused people living along waterways, and flooded trail underpasses. The council then voted to direct city staff to work with Valley Water on a ranked list of flood hotspots within the city and report back. 00:11:45

• Matt Mahan (Mayor) moved to direct city staff to work with Valley Water staff and return to the City Council, ideally in a joint presentation and ideally before the rainy season, with a list and risk ranking of flood hotspots along the roughly 140 miles of waterways in the city, plans for those found high risk, and a way for residents and property owners to report hotspots; and, longer term, to work with Valley Water on strategies to reduce flood risk and set out each agency's role. Seconded by Rosemary Kamei (Councilmember, District 1). Result: passed. 01:38:04

• Valley Water staff said a stronger-than-normal El Niño does not necessarily mean flooding locally, but the national attention is a chance to educate the public 00:12:22
• Valley Water staff explained that creek ownership is a patchwork across about 800 miles of county waterways, with Valley Water owning or managing about 350 miles and maintaining the roughly 185 miles where it built flood projects, while private owners must maintain their own land 00:14:36
• City staff described the city's role: readying storm sewers, monitoring weather and creek debris, clearing streets, closing roads and supporting recovery 00:16:00
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water's dry-season stream maintenance program did about 166 projects this year, a number that has been as high as 300 00:18:30
• City staff said the joint emergency action plan written with Valley Water after the 2017 flood has been tested 12 times in storms 00:19:44
• City staff said the plan is updated every year and signed by the city manager and Valley Water's chief executive, and that 29 staff from both agencies last updated it on September 21 00:20:54
• An official said Valley Water has hosted three inter-agency exercises on Anderson Dam and flooding scenarios since the end of July, with the city taking part 00:23:34
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water's annual multilingual flood awareness campaign would launch in two days 00:27:03
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water sent more than 48,000 flood awareness mailers last year and expects a similar reach this year, plus about 17,000 targeted mailings in hotspot areas 00:28:04
• Valley Water staff announced an annual winter preparedness workshop on October 29 and a joint press conference planned before the first big storm 00:28:04
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water lobbied state and federal officials for permitting relief, including Endangered Species Act flexibility, so emergency storm-prep work can be done in creeks 00:30:11
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water runs five sandbag sites countywide, with webcams at two San José sites, and will stock them before storms arrive 00:31:51
• Valley Water staff reminded residents that a flood insurance policy takes thirty days to take effect, and later corrected the federal website to floodsmart.gov 00:34:07
• An official said Valley Water monitors more than 100 blockage hotspots countywide and clears debris with cranes and excavators before, during and after storms 00:38:10
• City staff said the city clears blockages on its own property through emergency contracts with Tucker Construction 00:39:36
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water works with outreach crews before storms to warn unhoused people living below the high-water line 00:44:23
• City staff said the city alerts unhoused residents to move to higher ground, has opened shelters, and once set up interim housing with raised tent platforms 00:44:42
• An official said the city has had to keep 26 miles of waterways clear of encampments for the past two years and will hold shelter capacity for storms 00:45:31
• The mayor asked whether the agencies have done a full risk assessment ranking the top hotspots, and what they will do about each before heavy rain 00:51:50
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water inspects its own waterways every year but has no program to inspect all 800 miles of creek, and is limited by regulations on natural channels 00:52:48
• City staff said the city is working now to remove two spots of woody debris mixed with carpet and chain-link fence along Coyote Creek 00:55:53
• City staff acknowledged the city has historically relied on Valley Water to tell it about risk in the waterways 00:55:53
• The mayor moved to have city staff, working with Valley Water, produce a flood risk analysis with ranked hotspots and a way for residents to report concerns 00:57:32
• The mayor added longer-term direction for city staff to work with Valley Water on reducing flood risk and setting out each agency's role 00:58:35
• A councilmember asked what maintenance is planned along Penitencia Creek on the East Side and what risks remain 00:59:55
• City staff said Upper Penitencia is an unimproved channel and the city will partner with Valley Water to remove a fallen tree and clear an encampment under a bridge 01:00:44
• Valley Water staff said a capital project for Upper Penitencia is years away, so Valley Water has asked the governor to waive permitting and mitigation requirements there for sediment removal 01:02:07
• City staff said the encampment cleanup on Upper Penitencia is about two weeks out 01:03:33
• An official said the city is working with its housing department to offer outreach and housing resources to the person living in the waterway 01:04:10
• A councilmember noted there was no concrete housing destination yet, and asked what accountability measures keep problems from falling through the cracks between agencies 01:04:22
• An official pointed to the two trail-user commenters and asked both agencies whether there is a plan to keep flooded Guadalupe River Trail underpasses open this year 01:06:49
• City staff said trail underpass cleanup is not a standalone item in the plan, but the city will add it to its post-storm list 01:07:10
• Valley Water staff said trail underpasses sit in the low-flow channel, the lowest point of a creek, so they are the slowest to drain 01:07:52
• An official urged Valley Water to do a proactive creek bank assessment and a long-term prevention plan for homeowners along the Los Gatos Creek and Guadalupe River 01:09:18
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water usually does not know about problems on private creekside land until someone reports them, and offers permitting guidance through its hotline 01:11:07
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water lacks the resources to walk all 800 miles of creek each year, though new revenue could change that 01:14:00
• An official said a website referral was not enough and residents deserve more proactive effort from Valley Water 01:15:42
• An official noted that regulators close creeks to in-stream work after October 15 regardless of flood risk 01:15:58
• An official urged both agencies to press state and federal officials together for permit waivers at the worst hotspots this year 01:18:04
• An official said creek trails were designed to flood because they sit in low-lying areas 01:19:07
• An official promoted the city's Adopt a Storm Drain program and asked colleagues to link the joint emergency action plan in their newsletters 01:21:12
• A councilmember cited a petition from several hundred residents asking for the agencies to work together 01:22:47
• A councilmember argued Valley Water's expertise puts it in a position to lead, possibly through central permitting help, fee-for-service maintenance, or city easements 01:22:47
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water already offers permitting help and contracts to do work for San José when the city asks 01:24:18
• City staff said the city will support Valley Water's lobbying for funds and waivers, and noted that woody debris is not always a flood risk 01:26:49
• A Valley Water board member urged the city to stop allowing building in floodplains and to consider reclaiming such areas 01:29:17
• A Valley Water board member asked whether the city's general plan update includes a policy against building in flood-prone areas 01:30:28
• A councilmember said this probably wasn't in the scope of the council's four-year general plan review, but could be part of the coming housing element and next general plan 01:30:44
• A Valley Water board member called for action and motions instead of long discussion, saying federal funding is needed to finish Penitencia Creek work 01:32:32
• An official raised concern about the growing burden of flood protection and water costs on residents, citing a letter he sent 01:33:04
• A Valley Water board member raised a point of order that water rates were not on the agenda and had already been adopted in June 01:34:54
• An official asked the board to look for ways to reduce costs 01:35:44
• The mayor restated the motion: a joint report back, ideally before the rainy season, listing and risk-ranking hotspots on the city's roughly 140 miles of waterways, with plans for high-risk sites 01:36:19
• A Valley Water board member suggested a joint fiscal emergency team to get as much federal and state emergency money as possible, recalling the 1983 floods 01:38:08
• The Valley Water board chair said the Valley Water board could direct its staff to work with the city on the council's motion as a joint effort 01:40:16
• An official said city staff stand ready to work with Valley Water on pursuing outside funding 01:41:34

An update from Valley Water on Anderson Dam and the Coyote Creek flood protection projects, which affect flood risk along Coyote Creek through San José. With time running short, the full presentation was replaced by a roughly two-minute summary. The summary said the Anderson Dam tunnel and Coyote Creek flood protection phase one are complete and can operate this winter, while the dam retrofit and Coyote Creek phase two are just entering construction. The item was a report only, with no vote. 01:42:35

• An official proposed a brief two-minute update and questions in place of the full presentation because time was short 01:42:35
• Valley Water staff reported the Anderson Dam tunnel project is done, in testing, and can operate this winter together with the completed Coyote Creek phase one 01:43:14
• Valley Water staff said contracts are awarded and construction is just beginning on the dam seismic retrofit and Coyote Creek phase two 01:43:14
• Valley Water staff said Valley Water is working with the city on planned park closures, property purchases and encampment cleanups for the Coyote Creek work 01:44:23

A planned update on Pure Water Silicon Valley, a project to purify recycled water for drinking so the area holds up better in droughts. The agenda also proposed sending further discussion to the Joint Recycled Water Policy Advisory Committee with the cities of San José and Santa Clara. The meeting ran out of time, and the item was put off to the next meeting without a presentation. 01:48:50

• No motion; Pam Foley (Councilmember, District 9; Vice Mayor) announced the item would be put off to the next meeting because time had run out. Result: continued. 01:48:50

A ceremonial item honoring the Valley Water board chair, who is retiring after more than three decades on the board and who started the yearly joint meetings with the city. City councilmembers presented a commendation that the mayor had also signed. 01:49:10

• An official honored the chair for more than three decades of service on the Valley Water board and for advocating for vulnerable residents 01:50:19
• An official presented a commendation, noting the mayor had signed it remotely, and congratulated the chair on retiring 01:52:24
• The Valley Water board chair thanked the bodies and described coming to San José through Job Corps, going back to high school, and giving decades to legal aid and the water board 01:56:01

• On the El Niño item, five members of the public spoke: one Naglee Park resident asked how Valley Water and the city clear creek blockages during storms and with what equipment; one urged officials to read a local history of flooding and argued that the utility fees residents pay should prevent flooding; one longtime advocate for unhoused people asked about storm outreach, flyers, shelters and transportation, especially for unhoused seniors; and two trail users (one from the city of Santa Clara) asked for faster mud cleanup, better drainage and advance warnings at flooded Guadalupe River Trail underpasses, one saying they were flooded for about seventy days in each of 2017 and 2023.
• Near the end of the meeting, two more residents spoke about Coyote Creek: one presented a petition from more than 230 San José residents asking the agencies to work together and act on blockages, saying volunteers had documented at least nine major wood blockages on a three-quarter-mile stretch between the Williams Street Bridge and the I-280 overpass; one creekside property owner said he spent his own money clearing debris from the creek, which still sits on the bank because Valley Water told him it was the city's problem, and suggested transferring creek property to Valley Water by quitclaim to end disputes over who is responsible.

• City staff are to work with Valley Water staff and report back to the City Council, ideally jointly and ideally before the rainy season, with a risk-ranked list of flood hotspots on the city's roughly 140 miles of waterways and plans for high-risk sites; longer-term strategies and role definitions are to follow.
• The Valley Water chair said the board could direct its staff to work with the city on the council's motion; a Valley Water director suggested a joint fiscal emergency team to seek federal and state emergency funds.
• Valley Water's annual flood awareness campaign was to launch two days after the meeting.
• Valley Water's annual winter preparedness workshop is set for October 29.
• Valley Water plans a joint press conference before the first significant winter storm.
• City staff said the encampment cleanup on Upper Penitencia Creek was about two weeks out and that paperwork to remove a fallen tree there was underway.
• Valley Water said its sandbag sites will be stocked before storms arrive.
• City staff said trail underpass cleanup will be added to the city's post-storm task list.
• The Pure Water Silicon Valley update (item 2.3) was put off to the next meeting.
• A councilmember said a new housing element and later a new general plan are coming, where flood-area building limits could be considered.