Santa Clara County's water and flood-control agency has declared an emergency tied to the developing El Niño pattern, giving itself authority to buy equipment, materials and services quickly ahead of winter storms.
Valley Water announced the declaration Tuesday. It follows the statewide El Niño emergency Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed Sept. 21, after National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts showed the pattern strengthening and raising the odds of above-average rain in Northern California.
What it allows
According to the agency, the emergency authority lets it move fast to protect life, property and public services, for example by staging flood-fight supplies and lining up specialized contractors to protect its own infrastructure.
Spokesperson Matt Keller told ABC7 it could let the agency bring in heavy equipment such as excavators fast to pull debris out of creeks before it causes flooding, and let it turn to other vendors if its usual sandbag suppliers run short.
"What this will allow us to do is to make sure we can have the equipment, the materials, the people that we need to address any type of situation around the storms this winter," Keller said.
The declaration is not open-ended. Valley Water's Board of Directors is to review and reaffirm it at each regularly scheduled meeting while conditions warrant.