Purpose

The San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant (Plant) Master Plan has been launched to prepare for the Plant's future challenges and opportunites.

The three main Plant Master Plan components are:

1. Technical - to identify technology options for the Plant's continued operations.
2. Land use - to identify land use scenarios for the Plant's 2,600-acre property.
3. Community engagement - to work with ratepayers, stakeholders, and partners in developing a successful master plan.

Four driving forces point to the need for a master plan:

• Aging infrastructure - Many of the Plant facilities and equipment are exceeding life expectancy. A recent asset study found that about $1 billion is needed to overhaul the 53-year-old Plant. Of this amount, $250 million is needed to improve critical items in the next five years. This includes replacing the Plant's vast electrical cables network, rebuilding five of the 16 digesters, and replacing decaying concrete.
• Population & job growth - Although the Plant has expanded twice, planning for current and future peak flows is needed. The Plant's service area now includes almost 1.4 million residents and 600,000 workers in eight cities. Population and job growth are expected to continue throughout Silicon Valley.
• Stricter regulations - Evolving state and federal water quality regulations require investing in new operating techniques to meet higher levels of compliance.
• Availability of new, greener technologies - Several new technologies exist to help the Plant become a safer, more energy-efficient, sustainable operation. Plant service area residents, who fund Plant operations, deserve cost-effective operations and high quality of life standards.

What is currently on the 2,600-acre Plant property?

• About 175-acre operations area
• About 800-acre sludge lagoons and drying beds
• About 856-acre former salt production pond, Pond A18
• About 769-acre riparian habitat and grasslands, adjacent to the nation's largest urban wildlife refuge

The Plant Master Plan will explore the potential to balance land uses, and to develop the Plant as a world-class South Bay asset.