Getting to the Heart of the Issue: Please Vote Yes on Measure B for Safe Clean Water

By Brian Schmidt

Santa Clara Valley Water District Director

A while back, a community leader told me that there comes a time to get past dissension and minor disagreements to make progress on the core areas where we agree. She said that is when we all "need to put on our Big Girl Underpants" and do the right thing. For the core issue of water in our communities, now is Big Girl (and Big Boy) Underpants time.

On the ballot going to your home and homes throughout Santa Clara County, voters will choose whether to renew a tax measure - without increasing the rate structure – to fund the crucial water supply, flood control, and environmental restorations programs of the Santa Clara Valley Water District.  As the Director elected by voters to represent many of the cities north of San Jose, I joined the unanimous vote of my fellow Directors in support of Measure B and urge you to do the same.

In response to community input, the Safe Clean Water program continues the flood control and environmental priorities identified in the older Clean Safe Creeks Plan that this new program renews, and also adds critical water supply and conservation projects. North County cities receive much of their water from the San Francisco water supply, but not a single city is completely independent of the supply for the entire County. Safe and adequate water for all our communities, including water conservation and dam seismic safety upgrades, will benefit everyone.

As Measure B states, the long-term priorities of the program are to ensure a safe, reliable water supply for the future; to reduce toxins, hazards and contaminants such as mercury and pharmaceuticals in our waterways; to protect our water supply and local dams from the impacts of earthquakes and natural disasters; to restore fish, bird and wildlife habitat and provide open space access; and to provide flood protection to homes, businesses, schools, streets and highways.

This program is about our local area homes and lives, addressing local water supply, local flooding, and local watershed restoration. Among its many projects, the program would fund upgrades to drinking water pipelines, pollution prevention and trash removal from creeks, upgraded emergency response systems for floods, removal of invasive weed species, and funding for protecting the critical Mountain View Shoreline from tidal flooding and sea level rise.

We all know that in recent years, state and federal funding has declined and become less reliable. Since the passage of the original Clean, Safe Creeks program in 2000, voter-approved local funding has been essential to meet our community’s need for clean, safe creeks and waterways. This funding will end in 2016 if Measure B does not pass.

If Measure B is approved by the voters, the tax rate structure would not increase but rather would just continue the current rate and cost of living adjustment provided for under the existing Clean, Safe Creeks Plan. If approved, in 2014, the parcel tax for a single family residential home would be $55.84.

As the Water District states, the program would exempt low-income senior citizens from the special parcel tax, require all expenditures to be published annually, require external oversight by an independent monitoring committee, and require at least two professional audits during the life of the program.

A saying goes that in the West, whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting.  Here in our county, Safe Clean Water is for something else – a time to put on our Big Girl (and Big Boy) Underpants to help our community. To learn more about Measure B, the Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program, visit www.yesonsafecleanwater.com.

 

As always, I am available for questions or comments as your District 7 representative for Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.  Feel free to contact me at (650) 967-4829.