BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Update on Santa Clara Valley Water District's Membership in the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Receive information on the Santa Clara Valley Water District's (Valley Water) membership in the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA) and the benefits that Valley Water receives from that membership.
Body
SUMMARY:
This information item is in response to a future agenda item request from Directors Santos and Varela at the March 26, 2019, Board of Directors meeting.
Due to severe groundwater overdrafting and land subsidence early in the last century, Valley Water entered into contracts to receive water supplies from the State Water Project (SWP) in 1961, and from the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) in 1977. These imported supplies were used successfully to recharge Santa Clara County's depleted groundwater basins, halt land subsidence, and supply high quality drinking water to the people of Santa Clara County. Today, Santa Clara County relies on water conveyed through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by the SWP and CVP to meet, on average, 40 percent of its annual water needs. The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA) was formed in 1990 to assume the responsibility of operation and maintenance (O&M) of certain CVP facilities. This agenda item describes the activities SLDMWA has historically engaged in and discusses recent changes to the organization and its plan for future activities.
1. Formation and Governance
The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Users Association (Association) was formed in 1977 to provide a forum for South of Delta CVP contractors to coordinate on efforts of common interest. Valley Water joined the Association in 1988. The Association evolved into a more formal Joint Powers Authority (now known as the SLDMWA) in 1990 in order to be eligible to enter into contracts with the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to ...
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