Description and results of operation of the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District's project

Abstract

The Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District, comprising the major part of the Santa Clara Valley, was formed for the purpose of harvesting the waste flood‐waters of the surrounding watersheds and of charging these waters into the porous strata beneath the Valley which form the underground reservoir from which the Valley's irrigation and domestic waters are drawn, and which was in an advanced stage of depletion. This situation was brought about by the growth of the fruit and vegetable‐raising industry with its resultant increasing use of irrigation‐water until the yearly draft upon the underground reservoir exceeded the yearly replenishment and a continued decline of water‐levels occurred. Several investigations of the water‐resources of the Valley were made and culminated in the formation of the District, the construction of storage‐ dams and of percolating works, the collection and conveyance by these works of waste‐water to the underground reservoir, and the consequent rising of the Valley's water‐levels.