Porcella and Leal: Valley Water is working to improve fish habitat

During the past year, Valley Water biologists and other people spotted numerous Chinook salmon, juvenile steelhead and other fish species in waterways across Santa Clara County. Many of these fish were swimming and spawning in sections of creeks and rivers where Valley Water has completed habitat improvement projects specifically designed to benefit and support these species.

Valley Water has implemented fish habitat improvement projects throughout Santa Clara County’s streams for over two decades. Many of our agency’s projects focus on the federally threatened steelhead due to the species’ protective status and vulnerability. However, these efforts also benefit other native fish and wildlife species.

In 2023, Valley Water completed an exciting milestone for fisheries in the county by finalizing and certifying the Fish and Aquatic Habitat Collaborative Effort (FAHCE) environmental impact report. Completing this environmental document paved the way for fully implementing the FAHCE program in the Guadalupe and Stevens Creek watersheds. This program strives to improve flow conditions for fisheries downstream of Valley Water reservoirs while also balancing the water supply needs of the nearly 2 million people in Santa Clara County. The FAHCE program also commits to actions and activities that restore habitat and improve fish passage.

Valley Water is committed to building a healthy environment that allows steelhead and other native fish and wildlife species to survive, grow and reproduce using the premise that “if you build it, they will come.” Many of Valley Water’s projects involve removing instream passage barriers that impede fish migration. By completing these projects, steelhead can migrate more easily upstream and utilize cooler, more suitable habitats for spawning and rearing.

Some of our agency’s projects focus on installing gravel, boulders, large pieces of wood or other features to improve instream fish habitat. Our work also includes restoring the overall landscape, which includes bank and channel stabilization, native vegetation and habitat linkages. All these projects improve overall ecosystem function and improve stream habitats and their resiliency to climate change.

Valley Water takes pride in being a good steward of the environment. Our agency has completed more than 20 creek restoration and habitat improvement projects across Santa Clara County in the last two decades.

One recent effort was a collaborative project with San Jose to replace the Singleton Road crossing on Coyote Creek. The crossing consisted of a paved roadway traversing the creek with two large pipes that allowed flow to pass downstream. The crossing eroded over time and required either a substantial leap by fish to get into the pipes or fish to swim over the road when high flows overtopped it. The crossing, which substantially blocked fish from swimming to upstream spawning and rearing habitat, was considered the highest priority fish barrier in the system.

In 2021, Valley Water and San Jose removed the roadway and pipes and replaced the crossing with a free span bridge. This project now provides unimpeded fish passage to nearly 17 miles of habitat upstream for migrating fish in Coyote Creek.

Because of the success of projects like the Singleton Road crossing and implementation of the FAHCE program, Valley Water plans to do more to improve fish habitat in Santa Clara County while ensuring a reliable water supply for the community.

Our agency is working on several projects to meet this mission, including fish passage improvements at Moffett Boulevard on Stevens Creek, the Live Oak restoration site on Coyote Creek and several others. Valley Water plans to continue building the habitat so these amazing fish can persist and be part of the landscape of Santa Clara County for years to come.

Lisa Porcella has worked as a biologist at Valley Water since 1997. Clayton Leal has worked as a fisheries biologist at Valley Water since 2014.