Valley Water is responsible for securing a sufficient supply of safe, clean drinking water for Silicon Valley; however, while most residents do not pay Valley Water directly, costs for water supply management do impact residents’ water bills. With fairness and sustainability in mind, the Valley Water Board of Directors established “groundwater benefit zones” that help ensure costs passed on to residents, businesses, farmers, and other members of our community are only associated with water and water infrastructure for their zone. In addition, benefit zone pricing policies allow better overall water supply management and protection of this most precious resource.
Benefit zone structure enhances parity in service costs passed to residents
Valley Water manages four groundwater benefit zones. The boundaries of these geographic areas were established to reflect the services and benefits received by all users within the zone. Valley Water charges retail water agencies, farmers and well owners based on the actual cost of benefits offered in their zone. The cost of benefits in a particular zone may include infrastructure investments, operations, and imported water purchases. These costs then translate to water rates charged by Valley Water to retailers, who pass them on to residents.
In 2014, Valley Water commissioned a study to reassess benefit zones based on the latest science and geologic studies. As a result, in 2020, the Board of Directors approved updates to benefit zones to better reflect actual conditions and ensure more parity in service costs. The four current groundwater benefit zones in the County include Zone W-2 (North Santa Clara County), Zone W-5 (Llagas subbasin), Zone W-7 (Coyote Valley), and Zone W-8 (Foothills southeast of Uvas & Chesboro reservoir). While all zones use and pay for groundwater, Zone 2 has costs associated with the added benefit of receiving treated surface water for drinking, essential to meeting the zone’s drinking water needs. The benefit zone structure helps Valley Water ensure fairness in the water cost passed on to residents in Santa Clara County.
To learn more about benefit zones visit: https://www.valleywater.org/your-water/groundwater/groundwater-benefit-zones
The board’s pricing policy keeps water affordable while protecting communities
When water is scarce, its cost increases significantly. Ensuring a healthy supply of groundwater helps meet the water needs of the County. It also helps reduce the likelihood of more severe impacts from drought on water supplies and corresponding higher costs. There are additional benefits to maintaining a healthy supply of groundwater. For almost 100 years, our work to protect our groundwater basins effectively stopped subsidence (sinking of the land due to groundwater over-pumping), resulting in the preservation of our groundwater basin and the protection of communities and infrastructure. Once an aquifer (body of permeable rocks and/or sediment where groundwater is stored) collapses, it can never recover. Subsidence can also threaten infrastructure such as roads and pipelines. In addition to groundwater recharge activities (refilling the groundwater aquifer), Valley Water helps to manage groundwater pumping through the adjustment of certain water rate components based on current water supply conditions. For example, when surface water resources are more bountiful, water rate components can be adjusted to encourage retailers to use more treated surface water. This helps preserve the groundwater supply for times of drought when surface water is not as readily available, or for communities that only have access to groundwater. Conversely, water rate components can also be adjusted to encourage more groundwater use during times when surface water resources are scarce. Having a healthy groundwater supply in times of drought, when surface water is much more expensive helps keep water more affordable. Finally, a healthy groundwater level helps prevent costly subsidence-generated infrastructure damage.
To learn more about subsidence in Santa Clara County visit: https://www.valleywater.org/your-water/groundwater/subsidence
Ensuring continued access to drinking water during crisis among low-income communities
Valley Water recognizes that increases in water rates impact low-income communities more adversely. Between 2020 and 2023, our County faced two emergencies: The COVID-19 pandemic, which left many people without a secure source of income, and the statewide drought that threatened water supply reliability. The increasing cost of water due to decreasing supplies and income instability for our most vulnerable communities left many of our low-income residents unable to pay for their water. Valley Water partnered with local non-profit Sacred Heart Community Services to provide the Water Rate Assistance Program. The Valley Water Board approved $1 million in 2021 and an additional $1 million in 2022 to help income-eligible families pay their water bills. Over 2,800 families have received program benefits, ensuring continued access to safe, clean drinking water for the most vulnerable communities in Santa Clara County.
To access the Water Rates Assistance Program visit: https://www.sacredheartcs.org/utility-assistance
Water rates that support local farmers and climate change mitigation
Before becoming Silicon Valley, Santa Clara Valley was known as the “Valley of Hearts Delight.” The region had so many orchards and flowering trees that until the 1960s, it was the world’s largest fruit-producing and packing region. While the Valley has changed, Valley Water remains committed to supporting local farmers and accessibility of locally grown foods. Per the District Act, the state law governing Valley Water, agricultural water rates are limited to 25% of non-agricultural water rates (municipal and industrial). However, Board Policy further limits agricultural rates to no more than 10% of non-agricultural rates to support local farming and the preservation of open space in Santa Clara County. In addition, the conservation of farmland also aligns with the Santa Clara County and Open Space Authority’s Valley Agricultural Plan, which aims to preserve farmland as a climate change mitigation strategy benefiting the Santa Clara County community.
A Firm Commitment to Fairness and Justice
Core to environmental justice is the fair treatment of impacted communities. The Board’s proactive actions and a firm commitment to fairness and justice continue to drive Valley Water’s holistic water management strategy to ensure a reliable and affordable water supply for all Silicon Valley families, farmers and businesses, now and into the future.
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