New dams devastate watersheds and wildlife habitat, and threaten downstream communities when they are not maintained. The detrimental effects of dams have led to renewed efforts by non-profits, Native American Tribes, and government entities to work to remove dams across the country. The troubled Pacheco Dam project would cost billions without improving water security for Santa Clara County. The county needs reliable sources of water that ratepayers can afford. Wastewater and stormwater projects provide secure supplies without damaging the environment or saddling taxpayers and future generations with crippling debt.

Rather than pursue more sustainable water sources, the Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) hopes to construct a 325-foot-tall, 1,740-foot-wide earthen dam on the north fork of the Pacheco Creek. The creek is so small, that water used to fill the reservoir would need to be piped in from San Luis Reservoir, which is filled with water from the already imperiled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. While a new Pacheco Dam would impound 140,000 acre-feet of water and flood about 1,500 acres (including a portion of Henry Coe State Park), water supplies for Santa Clara County may be as little as 2,470 acre feet on average, and only up to 6,630 acre feet in critical years.

Besides the environmental devastation for this modest potential water source, the project would saddle Valley Water’s ratepayers with unaffordable water costs to fund the nearly $3 billion project. To help offset the enormous cost, Valley Water has requested more than $1.5 billion in loans from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through its Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (WIFIA) program to pay for the new Pacheco Dam. The WIFIA program was established to fund drinking water and wastewater facilities; wastewater and stormwater projects funded by WIFIA could help Santa Clara County make the most of its limited water supplies.

The Pacheco Dam project, however, would likely provide a small amount of drinking water, and on average, more water would evaporate from the reservoir than be supplied as drinking water. As a result, a broad coalition of groups, including Sierra Club, Friends of the River, landowners, and Santa Clara County residents, oppose this project. Not only would a Pacheco Dam create irreversible environmental damage, but the new reservoir would not provide sustainable water due to the variable water supplies from the Delta and the arid climate.

The Pacheco Dam is an outdated and unsustainable approach to address the water supply needs of Santa Clara County. Instead, Valley Water should pursue water projects that are not heavily reliant on weather patterns and focus on sustainable water sources such as stormwater treatment and wastewater recycling.

We urge the EPA not to approve a WIFIA loan for the controversial Pacheco Dam project, and to instead work with Valley Water to fund more sustainable and affordable water projects, such as stormwater and wastewater recycling, as well as  groundwater recharge and storage. 

Learn more about the project here: https://stoppachecodam.org/