Editor’s Note: This is the third of a three-part series highlighting some of the projects included in the CIP Fiscal Year 2026-2030 Preliminary Five-Year Plan.
Every year, Valley Water updates its funding plan for the critical infrastructure projects necessary to meet Santa Clara County’s needs. The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Five-Year Plan is a detailed document that outlines the funding for the planning, design and construction of water-related infrastructure.
Valley Water is committed to transparency and public engagement as we develop our CIP Five-Year Plan. To ensure that our initiatives align with community values and priorities, we will host meetings and presentations to inform and involve residents in decision-making.
As we prepare the CIP preliminary fiscal year 2026-2030 five-year plan, we focus on enhancing flood protection through strategic initiatives that allocate significant resources to combat potential flooding risks. The plan features 13 projects to provide water resources stewardship, which accounts for $148 million of the total budget.
Here’s a look at some of the water resources stewardship projects included in last year’s adopted CIP fiscal year 2025-2029 five-year plan.
Bolsa Road Fish Passage Improvements Project
In 2024, Valley Water completed a project to help fish in South Santa Clara County. The Bolsa Road Fish Passage Improvements Project in Gilroy made it easier for endangered steelhead to move along Uvas-Carnadero Creek. The project also improved the creek’s natural functions and its bed and bank stability.
Before the improvements, many steelhead could not migrate up the previous fish ladder, which was undersized for an 8-foot vertical ledge that formed due to erosion in the creek bed.
Valley Water improved passage by gradually raising the bed over 1,800 feet of channel length by creating a sequence of eleven riffles and pools. Now, steelhead have less than one foot of height to climb over each boulder riffle and rest in a pool. The improvements also provide steelhead access to spawning grounds in the watershed’s upper reaches.
Following project construction, steelhead were able to migrate during the winter flows. Valley Water staff and volunteers for CHEER (cheercentral.org), a non-profit that monitors the steelhead in Uvas Creek, noted that even the weakest steelhead could now migrate upstream to the year-round cold-water zone. The juveniles can flow downstream in spring.
American Public Works Association (APWA) Silicon Valley Chapter awarded the Bolsa Road Fish Passage Improvements Project the 2024 Project of the Year Award. APWA recognized the project as a public works project that demonstrated excellence in its planning, design, construction, and efforts between various stakeholders to complete it.
Moffett Fish Ladder improvement
In fiscal year 2023, Valley Water selected the Moffett fish ladder on Stevens Creek for a fish passage improvement project. This fish passage impediment is ranked as the seventh priority out of the remaining barriers within Valley Water’s report prioritizing fish passage barriers in Stevens Creek.
Current challenges with fish passage at the Moffett fish ladder include debris clogging the ladder and an inadequate proportion of the creek’s flows going through the fish ladder. Valley Water is preparing a study report to define problems with the existing structure, present improvement options, gather stakeholders’ input, and determine a staff-recommended alternative for design and construction.
This project aligns with Valley Water’s effort to restore and maintain a healthy steelhead population in the Stevens Creek watershed by providing adequate passage for adult steelhead to reach suitable spawning and rearing habitat and for juvenile outmigration.
To learn more, visit Valley Water’s Fish Habitat and Passage Improvement page.
Upcoming meetings
The timeline for this process began on Jan. 14, 2025, with a Valley Water Board work-study session dedicated to reviewing the Capital Improvement Program preliminary five-year plan and preliminary groundwater production charges. Then on Feb. 25, 2025, staff presented the draft plan to the Valley Water Board for their approval.
Once the draft is approved, we will enter a 60-day public review period. This period is an opportunity for residents to provide feedback on the draft plan, ensuring that the voices of our community are heard and considered. We encourage all community members to participate actively in this review process.
On April 8, 2025, we will hold a public hearing to formally receive feedback from the public. The outreach process will conclude with the closure of the public hearing on May 27, 2025, when our staff will present the final CIP fiscal year 2026-2030 five-year plan and the fiscal year 2026-27 biennial budget to the Valley Water Board for approval.