BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Update on the Sunnyvale East/West Channels Flood Protection Project.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That the District Board and Sunnyvale City Council receive information on the Sunnyvale East/West Channels Flood Protection Project.
Body
SUMMARY:
The Sunnyvale West Channel Flood Protection Project upgrades the capacity of approximately 3 miles of existing storm drain channel to provide 1% (or 100-year) flood protection for 47 acres of highly valuable industrial lands, including the former Onizuka Air Force Station. The Sunnyvale East Channel Flood Protection Project upgrades the existing capacity of approximately 6.4 miles of existing storm drain channel to provide 1% flood protection for 1,618 parcels. Construction improvements along both storm drain channels will also decrease turbidity and sediment by repairing various erosion sites, thereby improving water quality. In the early stages of the project design process, staff joined both improvement projects into one combined flood protection project, with a single Environmental Impact Report (EIR), to reduce construction costs and minimize construction coordination issues between the two channels. The Project does not protect against tidal flooding, which will be addressed with the completion of the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project.
Project Update
• Final EIR was certified by the District Board of Directors in September 2014.
• Generation of the 100% design is on-going and is expected to be completed by March 2019.
• To date, five permanent, necessary right-of-way acquisitions have been acquired, and staff is working with Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to acquire final leasing agreements, as well as temporary construction easements necessary for the Project. It is anticipated that all acquisitions will be completed by April 2019.
• In June 2017, the District submitted all the required permit applications to the various state and federal regulatory agencies. The permitting process is ongoing and staff is responding to requests for additional information from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Final permits are anticipated to be received by summer 2019, with award of the construction contract anticipated to occur in late 2019.
• The District has also engaged in partnering with Google, LLC since October 2017 to provide additional environmental enhancement project along 1,100 linear feet of the Sunnyvale West Channel (Caribbean Drive upstream to Caspian Court. These enhancements include improvements to existing public infrastructure and exploration of on-site mitigation opportunities.
• The District and Google, LLC are also exploring similar partnership opportunities on the Sunnyvale East Channel.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with this item.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: PowerPoint
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Christopher Hakes, District Deputy Operating Officer, 408-630-3796