Valley Water’s mission is to provide safe, clean water, protect against flooding, and care for local streams. Climate change is affecting this mission. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, more severe droughts, a declining Sierra Nevada snowpack and rising sea levels all impact water reliability, infrastructure, and ecosystem health throughout Santa Clara County.
To address these challenges, the Valley Water Board of Directors adopted the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) in 2021. This plan is based on science and acts as a long-term guide to identify climate risks. It outlines actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the agency’s ability to adapt to extreme weather conditions.
The Climate Change Action Plan is updated every 10 years to incorporate new scientific findings and adapt to changing conditions. Between updates, Valley Water publishes Extreme Weather Event Action Plan Biennial Reports to monitor progress and demonstrate how projects and programs are evolving to address the impacts of climate change. Valley Water published the biennial report in December 2025. You can read it here.
You can also visit the Climate Change Action Plan webpage for more information.