Neighborhood update #5 - November 2013
Kirk Diversion Dam Replacement
and Fish Screen Project
Pumped up and ready to go
Water district field crews will have a much easier
time this winter providing flood protection and
saving water for groundwater recharge following the
installation of a more efficient inflatable system on the
Kirk Dam in Los Gatos Creek.
The water district completed the work this month on
the $810,000 project. It replaced a steelboard dam
that often required days of advance notification for
crews to drain the water behind the dam and remove
and reinstall it. The work also put in two fish screens
in front of the diversion turnout to keep fish, frogs and
turtles in the creek.
Right: A shot of the
area before the
inflation of the new
dam.
Below: Minutes
later, the dam is
fully inflated.
Built in 1992, Kirk Dam allows the district to utilize
water from Lexington and Vasona reservoirs to
replenish the district’s underground aquifers. Water
impounded by the dam diverts to the Kirk and
Page recharge facilities year-round, except during
significant flood events when district crews removed
the dam to ensure safe flows.
That process, however, strained the crews, who had
to respond to high creek flows and be available to
remove and reinstall the dam. The installation process
has taken up to three days and required up to eight
people to do the job. Now with the push of a button,
the new inflatable rubber dam can inflate or deflate
within 30 minutes.
New fish screens are now in place at the diversion turnout,
hidden from view under the waters of Los Gatos Creek.
District Directors Brian Schmidt and Nai Hsueh toured the site,
calling it an innovative approach to flood protection.
More about us
As the county’s primary drinking water provider, the
Santa Clara Valley Water District ensures the safety
and abundance of drinking water.
We operate 10 reservoirs which catch local rainfall
and we import water from the Sierra Nevada
snowmelt through the Delta. Some of that water
replenishes the underground aquifer for later
pumping from wells and some goes to one of our
three drinking water treatment plants.
Once we treat and test the water to meet all state
and federal drinking water standards, we sell it to
water retailers like the San Jose Water Company that
resell it to individual homes and businesses.
The water district also has a major role in the
stewardship of local water resources.
We care for hundreds of miles of streams by
removing invasive vegetation, repairing creek bank
erosion, planting native vegetation and removing
sediment that can impact the creek’s ability to carry
floodwaters during rainy months. We also have many
programs to reduce pollution and contamination in
these waterways.
You’re in a
watershed
A watershed is the
area of land that
drains to a common
waterway.
In Santa Clara County, our
creeks and rivers catch rain and
runoff from storm drains and carry
the water north to San Francisco Bay or south to
Monterey Bay.
Along the way, some of the water is used to
fill reservoirs for drinking water, replenish the
underground aquifer and create better habitat for
fish and wildlife. This project is in the Guadalupe
Watershed.
This 170-square-mile-area drains the Guadalupe
River and its tributaries through downtown San
Jose. Lexington Reservoir, one of the area’s bestknown landmarks, is located along the western
border of this watershed.
Contact us
Where the flood threat is significant, we undertake
large construction projects such as building levees
or replacing undersized bridges. Often, the water
district can partner with a city or the county to open
a trail or park alongside the creek, providing a
recreational amenity for all to enjoy.
For more information, contact
Tony Mercado at (408) 630-2342, or
visit our website at
www.valleywater.org and use our
Access Valley Water customer request
and information system. With three easy
steps, you can use this service to find out
the latest information on the project or to
submit questions, complaints or compliments
directly to a district staff person.
© 2013 Santa Clara Valley Water District • 10/15/2013 TM 1283