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GreenTalk #6 - Santa Clara Valley Water — Transcript

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0:01Well, welcome students and welcome to
0:04our guest speakers for this Green Talk.
0:07Today, we are looking at Valley Water
0:11and the work it does in water supply and
0:15managing our water and water supply and
0:18water conservation.
0:20We have with us we have Desiree Saucier
0:24and we have Cindy Torres. Both have been
0:27with Valley Water for a while and they
0:31visited us many times. We're always
0:33happy to see them. Welcome. And Desiree,
0:37I think Desiree's going to go ahead and
0:38start.
0:39>> Yep.
0:39Yeah. Thank you for having us and hi
0:41everyone. So, Barbara mentioned my name
0:43is Desiree Saucier and I'm an associate
0:46water resources specialist in Valley
0:48Water's water supply planning and
0:50conservation unit.
0:52Uh I'll be starting with just some
0:54general background information on Valley
0:56Water as an organization and then
0:58followed up with some
0:59a little more background into what water
1:01supply planning looks like for us and
1:03then I'll also provide some examples of
1:06some stewardship activities that Valley
1:08Water carries out.
1:11And if my slide would advance, that
1:14would be great.
1:15Okay, there we go.
1:17So, Valley Water is Santa Clara County's
1:19water district and our mission is to
1:22provide Silicon Valley with safe clean
1:24water for a healthy life, environment,
1:27and economy.
1:28And so, to accomplish this, Valley Water
1:31has three primary goals to provide clean
1:34reliable water for our residents,
1:36implement flood protection measures for
1:38homes, schools, and businesses, and then
1:41also to act as stewards for our streams
1:43for healthy creeks and ecosystems.
1:49And so, for those of you who don't know,
1:51Valley Water is a public agency with an
1:53elected board and so, our board of
1:55directors is comprised of seven members,
1:58each elected from
2:00districts that are equally divided by
2:01population.
2:03And our board is who helps to develop,
2:07recommend, and adopt and implement
2:09policies, and then to also provide
2:12comments on activities in the
2:14implementation of our board's mission.
2:19And so, Valley Water serves all of Santa
2:21Clara County, which is quite a large
2:23area. It's there's almost 2 million
2:25people here living in the county within
2:2715 cities.
2:29And Valley Water is also the water
2:31wholesaler. So, we sell water to 13
2:35retailers throughout the county who then
2:37distribute the water to you, the
2:38residents and businesses.
2:41And then Valley Water also manages the
2:42groundwater underneath the county, so
2:44water can be pumped from the groundwater
2:46aquifer through wells uh by private well
2:49owners, farmers, and also our water
2:51retailers.
2:56And to understand why the water district
2:59was needed, I'll go over a little bit of
3:01the history. Uh so, in the mid-1800s,
3:05the Gold Rush was happening, California
3:07had just become a state, and the area
3:10saw a really big increase in its
3:12population. And as people settled here,
3:14the agricultural water demands also
3:17increased. So,
3:18Valley
3:19uh
3:21uh Valley Water was formed in 1929 in
3:25response to the overdrawn groundwater
3:27basins and then the subsequent land
3:29subsidence, or the sinking of the
3:31surface of the land, which is
3:33represented in this graph by that orange
3:34dotted line at the top.
3:37Um and this was all mostly due to the
3:39water demands of agriculture. Silicon
3:41Valley is now known for tech, but used
3:44to be known as the Valley of Heart's
3:45Delight. It was a very rich agricultural
3:48uh economy and community. So,
3:51to combat this in the 1930s, the agency
3:55built six surface water reservoirs to
3:57help capture storm water and recharge
4:00the ground water.
4:02Which did help to bring
4:05the ground water elevation back up.
4:07However, the population continued to
4:10grow and strain our ground water
4:12resources and since and subsidence
4:14continued. So,
4:16between 1915 and 1969,
4:19downtown San Jose had permanently sunk
4:21by nearly 13 ft.
4:23And so, in the 1950s,
4:25four additional surface water reservoirs
4:27were constructed, which
4:28once again helped a little bit, but not
4:30nearly enough. So,
4:32in the 1960s, Valley Water began
4:35importing water from state-owned
4:36reservoirs outside of the county
4:39through what we call the State Water
4:40Project, which
4:42definitely helped to stabilize the
4:44ground water.
4:46But, once again, population continued to
4:47increase in the area and when ground
4:50water levels dropped again, Valley
4:52Valley Water was able to secure
4:55additional imported water through the
4:57federal project now, this the Central
4:59Valley Project.
5:01Um
5:02And there's been periods of drought
5:04since then, but having secured imported
5:06water
5:07really
5:08helped to make sure that when ground
5:10water elevation
5:11levels dropped a little bit during
5:13drought, we're able to rebound from
5:15that. And for the most part, Valley
5:17Water has been sustainably managing the
5:19county's ground water.
5:23Uh and so, where does our water come
5:24from now?
5:26Most of it is still imported from out of
5:28the county, around 50% and then 30% is
5:32from our ground water and our local
5:35surface water. So, basically what we're
5:37able to capture and then store in our
5:39watersheds.
5:41Uh about 5% is recycled water, which is
5:44a small, but really important and
5:46growing source of water in the county
5:48that helps to conserve drinking water
5:51and is also drought-proof.
5:54And then water conservation is also a
5:56really important aspect of maintaining
5:58our water supply, but I'll let Cindy
6:00talk about that and how we save more
6:03water later.
6:07And then making sure all this water is
6:10getting to where it's needed throughout
6:12the county requires really extensive
6:14infrastructure.
6:15Uh we have 10 surface water reservoirs
6:18that I mentioned and that helped to
6:20store both local and
6:22a couple of our reservoirs also store
6:24imported water that we receive.
6:27And although I will say our largest
6:29reservoir, you have probably heard
6:30Anderson Reservoir is offline currently
6:33to allow for a seismic retrofit of the
6:35dam.
6:37And then we also manage around 122
6:40groundwater recharge ponds where we
6:43are taking surface water or imported
6:45water and letting it help recharge our
6:47groundwater
6:48basins.
6:50142 miles of pipeline to move water
6:52around, three pumping stations, three
6:55drinking water treatment plants, and
6:56then one advanced water purification
6:58purification facility.
7:01And then on top of all that, Valley
7:02Water also owns and manages over 300
7:05miles of streams in the county.
7:07Um
7:09and then we're also connected to the
7:11state and federal water systems, which
7:13is what delivers the imported water to
7:15us.
7:20And then for
7:23planning what to do with all of this
7:24water, we
7:26have this level of service goal to meet
7:29100% of annual water demand during our
7:31non-drought years and at least 80% of
7:33demand in our drought years. And so
7:36this goal was established by our board
7:38in the board policy E2 and it serves as
7:43our basis and guidance for our
7:44long-range planning.
7:48Water supply planning requires
7:51a really comprehensive evaluation of
7:53what our needs and priorities are to
7:55develop an instruct investment strategy
7:58to ensure that we have water supply
8:00reliability into the future. And so,
8:03we look at where our water use demands
8:06might be headed based off of population
8:08and land use projections. We assess the
8:11need for maintenance to our existing
8:14infrastructure, like the seismic
8:16retrofit of our dam,
8:18and also our pipelines. And then we also
8:20have to consider how we will go about
8:24mitigating future droughts, which is one
8:26of the biggest threats to our water
8:28supply reliability.
8:30And then on top of that, we also have to
8:31look at how climate change is going to
8:32be impacting all of these things.
8:38So, for water supply planning, trying to
8:40understand where our water use is going
8:43is very important. We need to
8:47have an idea of what future water use
8:49might be to determine when we'll need to
8:52invest in different supply or storage
8:55options. And so, using
8:58demand projections we develop, we
9:00compare against what we anticipate our
9:02supply will be going into the future.
9:04And then we can get an idea of if and
9:07when shortage may occur and then plan
9:09for additional projects accordingly.
9:13And so, while we use the best available
9:16information at the time for us to
9:18forecast our future demand, we we
9:21recognize that uncertainty is just an
9:23inherent part of any projections. You
9:25know, there's uncertainty in the growth
9:28forecast you use. There's always new
9:30information coming in on how we should
9:32be forecasting climate change going into
9:34the future.
9:35And so, and how that will impact
9:37demands. So, to address this
9:39uncertainty, we
9:42in our long-range planning, we develop
9:44two sort of bookends to potential
9:46demands
9:47to reflect different levels of growth,
9:50different uh severity of climate change
9:53impacts, and
9:55to
9:56allow us to create sort of an adaptive
9:58management framework. And so, in this
10:00figure, we have the stable demands,
10:03which represents the lower demand
10:05forecast, and that assumes
10:07um
10:07water use sort of starts to flatten
10:10around 2030, in part owing to the
10:12success of making water conservation a
10:14way of life, and then also being able to
10:17mitigate the impacts of growth on water
10:19use.
10:20And we also have a high demand scenario,
10:23which assumes that our growth forecast
10:26uh
10:27trends
10:28continue through 2050,
10:30and that climate change impacts are a
10:33little bit more severe on demands, and
10:35we're not able to be fully mitigated by
10:38our conservation efforts and just other
10:39measures as well.
10:43And so, we take those water demand
10:45projections
10:47and use them in our Water Supply Master
10:49Plan 2050, which
10:51outlines our strategy for providing a
10:54reliable and sustainable uh water supply
10:57in
10:58a cost-effective manner.
11:00And so, our last Water Supply Master
11:02Plan acts as our road map for investment
11:04decisions through 2050.
11:07We have that level of service goal that
11:08we're always keeping in mind and
11:10striving to meet, and the master plan
11:13lays out the strategy to meet that goal
11:15and put together different portfolios of
11:18uh water supply and storage projects to
11:21that we may need in the future to
11:23mitigate potential shortage.
11:26And since there are different strategies
11:28to achieve future water supply
11:30reliability,
11:32but also given the uncertainty that
11:34there is in project development and also
11:37our future supply and demand conditions,
11:39we wanted an adaptive management
11:41framework to provide our board with
11:46flexibility and the ability to make sort
11:48of incremental investment decisions, you
11:50know, not having to go all in right now
11:52on one investment strategy
11:54to meet our needs in 2050. We want to be
11:56able to take our time as we get new
11:58information.
12:00Um and this adaptive management
12:02framework included a roadmap and annual
12:05reporting. So,
12:07the roadmap kind of outlined here
12:10um
12:12talks about our near-term and mid-term
12:14actions that are needed and then also
12:16defines some indicators and conditions
12:18to help guide project decisions in the
12:20next 5 years.
12:21And then the annual reporting that we do
12:24tracks project progress and also just
12:26provides more up-to-date information to
12:28help inform any board decision-making
12:31that needs to occur in the interim.
12:35And long-range planning is a a very
12:37cyclical process. So, in a few years we
12:40will be reassessing our supply
12:43projections, our demand projections and
12:45assumptions and then look at how
12:47projects are coming along. Are there new
12:49project options that we weren't able to
12:51assess in the last round and do this
12:53planning process all over again and
12:55adjust where necessary.
13:00So, that was water supply planning
13:03in like a very small nutshell. It it can
13:05it gets very complicated, but
13:07I also wanted to take some time to
13:09discuss Valley Water's stewardship
13:10activities.
13:12And so, the Safe Clean Water Program is
13:14what helps us carry out our
13:18along with our water supply um
13:21mission, our flood protection and
13:23stewardship activities.
13:25So, this program was first passed in
13:272000 as the clean safe creeks and
13:31natural flood protection plan and then
13:33again in 2012 as the safe clean water
13:36and natural flood protection program and
13:39then it was permanently extended in
13:402020.
13:42And this program provides approximately
13:44$47 million
13:46annually for local projects and there
13:49are six priorities each with their own
13:51sort of subprojects.
13:53So, priority A deals with a reliable
13:56water supply.
13:57Priority B focuses on reducing
14:00contaminants in our waterways.
14:02Priority C is concerned with protecting
14:05our water supply and demand from natural
14:07disasters. So, once again, like the
14:08seismic retrofit of Anderson Dam.
14:12Project priority D focuses on habitat
14:15restoration and open space access.
14:18Priority E covers flood protection and
14:21then priority F covers projects that
14:23help support public health and public
14:25safety along our waterways and
14:26infrastructure.
14:28And then as I mentioned, each of these
14:30priorities have a bunch of subprojects,
14:33but so I'll provide just a few examples
14:35of some more of the stewardship focused
14:37projects.
14:40So, first we have project B2, which is
14:43the interagency urban runoff program and
14:46this project supports
14:48both Valley Water's relationships with
14:50other organizations to help reduce
14:53pollutants in the county's waterways.
14:56We own a lot of the stream, but we don't
14:58own all of it. So, there has to be a lot
15:00of coordination between
15:02the cities in the county
15:04with Santa Clara County and with the
15:06district. So,
15:07part of this project includes
15:10placing these trash capture devices,
15:12also called trash and booms,
15:14in streams to prevent trash from moving
15:16downstream.
15:17And so, once a boom is placed, uh staff
15:20will monitor and remove trash as needed
15:22as you can see in this image.
15:25And these can capture quite a lot of
15:27trash. Last year, Valley Water operated
15:30four booms and was
15:32uh able to collect over four tons of
15:33trash.
15:38And then regarding flood protection, we
15:40have project E1, which is the Coyote
15:42Creek Protection Project. And so,
15:45we're getting further away from it now,
15:46but you you might remember in 2017,
15:50it was a really rainy year. We We saw a
15:53lot of flooding throughout the county,
15:55in particular along Coyote Creek, which
15:57runs all the way from Morgan Hill up
15:59through San Jose and then out to the
16:01bay.
16:02And there are a lot of homes and
16:04businesses uh along the creek in San
16:06Jose. And in 2017, that flooding
16:09uh caused a lot of property damage. So,
16:12this project uh was developed to help
16:14prevent that in case of flood again.
16:16It's a really long stretch to protect,
16:19so the project is being done in phases.
16:22Uh part of the ways we do that, as you
16:24can see in the picture on the right, we
16:25drive large sheets of steel into the
16:28ground along the banks of the creek and
16:30leaving
16:31about 5 to 10 ft exposed, depending on
16:33where it is along the creek. And that
16:35helps to form a barrier against the
16:37creek when
16:39we're getting a lot of rain and the
16:40creeks are fuller and rising.
16:43And then,
16:45roughly 9 mi of walls are going to be
16:48built along the section shown in the map
16:50from
16:51Montague Expressway in the north down to
16:52Tully Road.
16:54Uh and it will take a while. Phase 1 was
16:58completed
16:59either last year or the year before, and
17:01construction of phase 2 will be starting
17:04up really soon.
17:08And there are also other ways to help uh
17:11reduce the risk of flooding in our
17:12waterways. And one of this is
17:15includes making sure that we maintain
17:18the flow capacity of our streams, so
17:20over time sediment can build up in our
17:24creek beds, but also vegetation can grow
17:26along the sides or within the channel,
17:29uh which can greatly reduce the capacity
17:30of our streams and then lead to
17:31flooding.
17:33So, project F1 is what we have to help
17:35control this.
17:36We have crews go out using hand labor,
17:39machines, and occasionally herbicides to
17:42help remove both vegetation and
17:43sediment.
17:45And in the last year Valley Water
17:46removed over 500 tons of vegetation from
17:49our creeks and removed over 24,000 cubic
17:52yards of sediment that had built up to
17:53maintain our waterways design capacity.
17:58And so, this was just a really small
18:01subset of projects that are included in
18:02our Safe Clean Water Program,
18:04um but there's plenty of more
18:06information on our projects on our
18:07website. If you're interested, I can put
18:09a a link to the the website so you can
18:12look through some projects.
18:14Um but that's all I had for you today.
18:16I'm going to pass it off to Cindy to
18:18talk a little bit more about water
18:20conservation and what we do to save
18:23water going into the future. Thank you.
18:27>> Okay.
18:29Okay, I'll share my screen. Give me a
18:30second while I get this
18:33out.
18:35Okay.
18:35Thank you everyone for your time today.
18:37I'm Cindy Bowles and I'm with Valley
18:38Water. I'm a water conservation
18:40specialist and today I will be speaking
18:42with you all about the several water
18:44conservation programs and resources that
18:47Valley Water has to offer.
18:51All right.
18:53So, why is water conservation important?
18:56So, some of you might pay utility bills
18:59and some of you may not, but ultimately
19:01water conservation saves you money.
19:03The average family upgrading their
19:06toilets from a 1.6 gallon per flush
19:09model to a 0.8 gallon per flush model it
19:12save up to 13,000 gallons of water
19:15a year.
19:16Um and that adds up to approximately
19:18$130 in water costs.
19:21There are a lot of other reasons to
19:23conserve water as well. Water
19:25conservation increases long-term water
19:28supply reliability. It assists us in
19:31meeting short-term demands, allowing us
19:34to address immediate water shortages
19:36during critical periods.
19:42So, this here was taken directly from
19:44the Drought Monitor website. The map on
19:47the left is what was shown earlier this
19:50year during our presentation back in
19:52March. And at that time, as you can see
19:55for the first time in a long time, no
19:58parts of California were in a drought.
20:00But, over the past couple of months,
20:02there have We have been experiencing
20:04some dryness, so it's important to
20:05remember that every day it's not
20:08raining, it's drying, and the next
20:10drought could just be right around the
20:12corner, and conservation is a key to
20:14getting us through those water shortages
20:16or droughts.
20:22This here is Valley Water's uh monthly
20:25water tracker. It is updated on a
20:28monthly basis, and it includes factors
20:31that affect our water supplies.
20:33Um you can find this online to be in the
20:36know of what our groundwater snowpack
20:38and reservoir levels are. I'll drop a
20:40link going directly to this in the chat
20:42after the presentation.
20:47Okay, so here's our water usage
20:48breakdown. How do we use water in our
20:50county? The majority of our water usage
20:53is going to be residential, with 50% of
20:56that going directly towards outdoor
20:59usage, and the other half towards indoor
21:02indoor purposes.
21:04On average,
21:06um half of all residential water use is
21:08outdoor, and that is why having a
21:10water-efficient landscape is so
21:12important, and Valley Water has programs
21:15to help our customers achieve that.
21:18Businesses use up to 30% of water in the
21:21county, and we also have programs to
21:23help them
21:25with installing water-efficient
21:27technologies.
21:32Valley Water has been a consumer to be
21:36in American water conservation,
21:38but we can only do that with your
21:40participation.
21:42The next couple of slides will cover all
21:44of the different programs and resources
21:46that we have to offer that assist with
21:48both indoor and outdoor water
21:50conservation.
21:56Our green shopping cart program has been
21:58one of our most popular programs.
22:00Through this program, we offer free
22:02water conservation resources, such as
22:05showerheads,
22:06aerators, garden hose nozzles, um
22:10toilet flappers, as well as a DIY kit,
22:13which assists you with um
22:16detecting leaks inside of your home.
22:19In this kit, you will receive a flow
22:21rate bag, which allows you to measure
22:24the flow of both your showerheads and
22:27faucet aerators.
22:29It also comes with uh leak detection
22:31tablets that um
22:33help you test whether you have a leak at
22:35your toilet from the toilet tank to the
22:37bowl. It's a really fun activity to do
22:39with little kids. If you have any kids
22:41at home, it gives you an opportunity to
22:42teach them about water conservation. And
22:44yet, all of these items are offered for
22:46free to all of our um Santa Clara County
22:49residents and businesses, and that
22:51includes shipping, as well.
22:58We also offer landscape surveys. Our
23:01WaterWise Outdoor survey is specifically
23:04for residential
23:06and small commercial properties with
23:09um less than 1/2 an acre.
23:12Uh through this program, a certified
23:16outdoor surveyor comes out, they take a
23:18look at your irrigation and
23:21they complete a comprehensive evaluation
23:23of
23:24your irrigation system and they provide
23:26recommendations for upgrades.
23:28The large landscape program is very
23:30similar to that program. It provides the
23:32same type of services. The only The only
23:34difference with this one is that it's
23:36for
23:37uh properties that are
23:39over 1/2 an acre.
23:41And also they also provide properties um
23:44with a
23:45um
23:47a water usage budget
23:49that allows us That gives the site an
23:51idea of like how much water they should
23:53be using at the property.
23:58And
23:59our turf rebate program
24:01is our most popular program.
24:03Uh through this program, we provide
24:05several different incentives to help our
24:07residents upgrade their thirsty lawns to
24:10something that's more um
24:12sustainable. We know that there's a
24:14significant amount of water waste in the
24:16landscaping due to high water use plants
24:18and inefficient equipment. So, we have a
24:20means to help um customers with that. It
24:23also applies to swimming pools as well.
24:29And then another element of the
24:31landscape rebate program is the
24:33irrigation equipment upgrade.
24:35It provides customers with rebates for
24:38um upgrading their irrigation equipment,
24:41which includes all of the items that are
24:43listed here.
24:44We live in a society where we commonly
24:46and we actually often upgrade our
24:48phones, but people don't often upgrade
24:51their um inefficient equipment at home.
25:01>> Water rebate is another aspect of the
25:03landscape rebate program. In this
25:05program, we provide rebates for
25:08installing rain barrels, cisterns, and
25:11including rain gardens.
25:18We are also in process of taking on a
25:21demonstration garden, which will be
25:24located at the southeast corner of
25:26Valley Water's headquarters building.
25:28We're located off of Alameda Expressway.
25:31This approximately 26,000 square foot
25:34garden is going to showcase water
25:36conservation and sustainable practices.
25:39It's going to serve as a public
25:41gathering space and educational space as
25:43well. It will emphasize Valley Water's
25:47landscape rebate program. It will have
25:49elements uh
25:51It will incorporate different features
25:53such as native and climate appropriate
25:56plants, high-efficiency irrigation
25:58equipment, educational signage, and
26:01integrated green architecture.
26:10Gray water
26:11laundry to landscape rebate
26:15is a
26:16It's a simple system that diverts the
26:18water from your specifically from the
26:20washing machine to your landscape. Um
26:24there Our plants don't necessarily need
26:27fresh water, so we can use a safe
26:30plant-safe detergent. You're able to
26:32divert the water from the washing
26:35machine to irrigate your landscape. And
26:37that includes fruit trees as well.
26:43Valley Water also responds to water
26:46waste reports from anywhere in the
26:48county uh, by collaborating with our
26:51local retailers. The goal of this
26:53program is to educate the public. It's
26:57not to fine anybody anything like that.
27:00We provide, uh,
27:02the public with resources to help them
27:04reduce their water usage and eliminate
27:07any water waste.
27:13We also offer commercial rebates. Our
27:16rebate program, uh, can be used to
27:18upgrade equipment and that includes
27:20cooling towers, commercial dishwashers,
27:24and water softening systems, as well.
27:28And then our submeter rebate program is
27:30for,
27:32uh, multi-family properties to install
27:34individual submeters,
27:36uh, instead of having just one master
27:38meter for the entire property.
27:41Uh, this is very beneficial for
27:43customers as well, as they can now
27:45directly pay like their own water bill
27:46versus having to divide the water bill
27:48amongst the different units.
27:52Or sometimes even more than that, as
27:54well.
27:56Here is our direct retrofitting indoor
27:59farming program, also known as the drip
28:01program. This is our newest direct
28:03installation program. So, what's really
28:06different about this program than the
28:07other ones I just, uh, discussed is that
28:10this is not a rebate program. So, this
28:12is a direct installation program. We
28:15have a professional plumber that comes
28:17out to your site. Uh, they do a free
28:19inspection of the property to see if you
28:21have any old line toilets, shower heads,
28:24or aerators that can be retrofitted to
28:27more high-efficiency fixtures.
28:30Um,
28:31they will, if any check fixtures, any
28:34efficient fixtures are found at a
28:35property, the plumber will remove those
28:38and install more efficient ones, uh,
28:40free of cost to the customer. So, all of
28:43the costs are covered by Valley Water,
28:45and this is available to multi-family
28:48commercial
28:49um multi-family commercial properties.
28:52It is also available to single-family
28:54homes, um but there are specific income
28:57requirements that need to be met.
29:02And
29:03Valley Water District also offers
29:05workshops, office hours, and numerous
29:08events to help educate the public on
29:12solutions and lower programs as well.
29:19And that is it.
29:20I'll take any questions if you have any.
29:33>> So, students, if you have any questions,
29:36um
29:37oh, I see a hand just went up. Just a
29:39second.
29:41So,
29:47So, who Student The student who raised
29:50your hand,
29:51would you like to ask your question?
29:53>> Yeah, uh you mentioned the the water
29:55waste program. Uh
29:57does this cover the city of San Jose, or
30:00would that be like a straight water?
30:04>> It does cover um cities in San Jose as
30:06well.
30:07>> Thank you.
30:16>> Okay, anybody else?
30:19I'll check the chat to see if we have
30:21any questions. You can also put more
30:24questions in the chat.
30:34Oh, I have a quick question.
30:36I think uh I think it was Desiree who
30:39mentioned the um
30:40feasibility study, the desal feasibility
30:44study.
30:45Do
30:46do they have a projected date when it
30:49would be finished or
30:52uh
30:52when it might be made?
30:55>> Do not know.
30:56>> Mhm.
30:56>> Currently,
30:58that's not one of I would say our
31:01recommended projects just cuz it is so
31:02far along. We are definitely more
31:04pushing for direct potable reuse. Um
31:10of like waste water to drinking water.
31:12>> Mhm.
31:13>> Okay. But they might be working on an
31:15engineering feasibility study right now.
31:18I don't but I don't have a timeline on
31:20that.
31:21>> Mhm.
31:21Okay, thank you.
31:25Oh, uh Jonathan asked, "Where did you
31:27say the demonstration garden was uh
31:29located?"
31:32>> It will be located at uh Valley Water
31:35headquarters. Uh we're off of Cottle and
31:37Expressway. If you know where Cottle and
31:39Monterey are, that's where we'll be
31:40meeting. Let's walk over there.
31:45>> Okay, thank you.
31:48Oh, either Desirae or Cindy, I I believe
31:52um
31:53Valley Water has had
31:55um interns interns from San Jose State
31:59in the past San Jose State in the past
32:02or and I just wondered um how might
32:06someone find out about uh interns at the
32:10agency?
32:11>> Yeah. So, we have our summer internship
32:14program, which is the really big one. Um
32:18and I'll put the link in the chat.
32:21Application
32:22should open up in January of next year.
32:25So, keep an eye out for that. But we
32:27also have
32:30year-round internships.
32:32Um and we have a web page for that.
32:36>> Yeah, so we
32:36>> Um and maybe yeah, Cindy.
32:39>> Yeah, what's really cool about the water
32:40conservation unit or team is that we
32:43have year round internships available.
32:47I was actually an intern here about a
32:48decade ago.
32:50Um
32:52Yes, we do have internships. So, once we
32:55have strong work, we have a good
32:58team. Um
33:00we will have internships available and I
33:02can connect you all with
33:04the manager for that
33:06for that unit or for that team there
33:08that takes on resumes.
33:10I want to say maybe all year just to
33:12kind of have
33:14those available for when positions do
33:16come available.
33:20>> Okay, great. Thank you.
33:24Jonathan asks, um is Valley Water
33:27connected to hydroelectric production in
33:30any way or does it only work providing
33:33and monitoring safe drinking water?
33:38>> Don't believe we have none of our dams
33:40are for specifically hydroelectric
33:42production. They're all more
33:44sort of water supply.
33:47Um
33:49Yeah, providing
33:50drinking water, taking care of our
33:52streams, providing flood protection.
33:55That's the main mission.
33:58>> Okay, any other questions?
34:02Oh, here comes some.
34:04Oh.
34:05Um Valerie asks,
34:08"You mentioned that only about 5% of the
34:11water is recycled. Why is that
34:15percentage so low? Do you think
34:17increasing the amount of recycled water
34:20could help reduce emissions or provide
34:22other environmental benefits?"
34:25>> It's certainly something we're trying to
34:27increase. We as part of our water supply
34:29master plan, we adopted a goal to
34:33increase
34:35uh non-potable water reuse by
34:39Oh, no.
34:40I don't have the exact figure. 24,000 or
34:43like 32,000 acre-feet per year by 20
34:4735, I believe. So, it is something we're
34:49really trying to go cuz we recognize
34:50that it's, you know,
34:52one of our best sources of drought
34:55um
34:56drought tolerant supplies.
34:58Um
35:00Why it's so I think there's just a
35:02general sometimes
35:04hesitancy to
35:07adopt recycled water. There's a lot of
35:09permitting with it, especially with
35:12direct potable reuse, which is recycling
35:15water to
35:16the point where it is once again
35:18drinkable.
35:20Um there's definitely some public
35:22pushback on it, but it's something that
35:24our um purified water team is working
35:26really hard to try and change people's
35:28minds cuz it is such a great water
35:30source.
35:32>> Okay, any other questions?
35:35Feel free to write in the chat or shout
35:38out. Oh, I see a new question.
35:40Um Bonnie is asking, "Does Valley Water
35:43have any control over water that flows
35:46into the San Francisco Bay?"
35:48>> Uh yeah, like I mentioned, Coyote Creek
35:50does that, and so
35:53I don't know exactly what you mean by
35:56that. Okay.
35:58To reduce environmental impact. Okay, so
36:00like I mentioned, you know, we have our
36:02different programs to reduce pollutants
36:04in the waterway.
36:05Um
36:07we're trying to also reduce encampments
36:11along the waterways, which is also a
36:13really large source of pollution
36:16in our waterways.
36:18I would look at
36:20the Safe Clean Water Program
36:22projects like subset priority B, which
36:25should have a lot more information on
36:27that.
36:29>> Okay, so Bonnie says, "Thank you."
36:31Um
36:34Okay. Um oh, thanks Cindy for the
36:36information. So, students, you can reach
36:38out to Nick Simard for any internship
36:41opportunities.
36:44Um Valerie also asks,
36:46"What can we as individuals or as a
36:48community do to help Valley Water
36:51with water conservation and
36:53sustainability?"
36:56>> Reach out to Cindy.
36:57>> [laughter]
37:00>> Order free stuff from our online
37:01shopping cart program. Um it's the
37:04Um it's probably the most like
37:07renter-friendly program that we have, so
37:09you're able to order um efficiency
37:12products directly from there. Again,
37:13everything is free from that um program,
37:16so that's one way to start.
37:19And I'm going to drop the link for that
37:20in the chat right now.
37:24And tell your neighbors about it. I feel
37:26like not a lot of people know about the
37:27program, so telling your neighbors, your
37:29family, that's also very helpful.
37:38>> Okay.
37:40So,
37:41students, do you have any other
37:42questions? Oh, okay, there's oh, one
37:51Oh, oh, okay. Um Olivia had a comment,
37:55"This is an exciting project." Well,
37:57>> She included some additional information
37:59on our stream
38:01environmental impact question that we
38:04had.
38:05>> Oh, okay. Good.
38:07And
38:08>> She used to work in watershed, so she
38:09has a little bit more of that
38:11stewardship background than I do.
38:13>> Oh, okay, great.
38:16Um
38:18So, Jonathan Jonathan says,
38:21um "I did not know about this at all.
38:23Thank you for sharing.
38:25And then we've got some more information
38:27from Cindy about use the link order
38:30uh, to order free water conservation
38:33programs. I mean, um, products.
38:37Good, we've got a lot of good
38:38information here.
38:42And Deonna asks,
38:44"How do you work with other water
38:46management organizations in other
38:48counties?"
38:50>> Uh,
38:51that's a
38:52big question. I feel like it happens in
38:54a lot of different ways.
38:57Um,
38:57some of the projects we're looking at,
39:00you know, for our water supply master
39:01plan are projects
39:03that would be,
39:05you know, effectively group projects
39:06with other water agencies throughout the
39:08county like uh, the Delta Conveyance
39:09Project. And so,
39:11we'll have
39:15basically a lot of meetings with
39:16different water organizations to decide
39:19how the projects get built,
39:21funding and things like that.
39:24There's also
39:25um,
39:26>> subcommittees that we have.
39:28>> Yeah, that as well.
39:30>> Yeah, the water conservation team meets
39:32um, on a bi-monthly basis with uh, all
39:3413 water retailers in the county.
39:37Um, and we collab on bringing you all
39:39different programs and resources.
39:42>> Yeah. Our board is also really active on
39:46other boards as well. Like we have
39:50the San Luis Delta Mendota water like
39:54agency. There's different water agencies
39:56and, you know, we try to keep open
39:57communication with all of them.
39:59We used or we're also part of, you know,
40:03there's something called IRWM, the
40:05Integrated Regional Water Management. I
40:07think it was an act, but that helped get
40:10water agencies together that were in
40:11similar watershed areas, but don't
40:13necessarily hold the same like
40:15governmental boundaries and that,
40:18you know, gets us in contact with the
40:19people south of us, you know, the Pajaro
40:22watershed.
40:23Um
40:25There's like a lot of different ways. I
40:26feel like
40:29It's It's hard to cover everything, but
40:32we try our best to
40:34create relationships with other agencies
40:36as well.
40:37>> Thank you so much, Cindy and Desiree.
40:40There's a lot of good information here
40:42and hopefully we can spread the word
40:44about some of the services and and
40:46things that are offered.
40:48So
40:50I I see some thank yous going through
40:52the chat.
40:53And
40:55um
40:56you know, if you Do you have any If you
40:58have any parting words for us, you could
41:00probably tell us now.
41:02But
41:03>> No, yeah, thank you for having us. We
41:05can uh
41:06I In the past we've sent over our
41:07presentations. I don't know if you'd
41:09still like us to do that, but
41:11>> Oh. Oh, yeah.
41:12>> I also I can put
41:13my email in the chat. Maybe Cindy, you
41:15can, too. If you do think of any
41:18questions that you have,
41:20feel free to reach out.
41:21>> Definitely. Mhm.
41:24>> And yeah, we'll be happy to answer them.
41:28>> Okay. Yes.
41:29>> Exactly.
41:31>> Yes, I I I see your uh email address is
41:33there.
41:34Okay.
41:36Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much.
41:38>> Yeah. Thank you.
41:40>> Yeah, so everybody and thank you,
41:42students, uh for attending this week's
41:45Green Talk.
41:46And we will be back next week with
41:49another Green Talk, so we hope to see
41:51you there. And then Cindy and Desiree
41:55and um Olivia, we hope that we will have
41:59you back for another semester.
42:01>> Yeah. See you in March, probably.
42:04>> Yeah, probably. Probably in March, next
42:07semester. So
42:09All right, then, everybody. We'll see
42:11you next week and uh Desiree and Cindy
42:14like I said we'll see you next semester.
42:16>> All right. Good. Thank you.
42:18>> Thank you.
42:19>> Bye. Bye.

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