Zone 7 Water Agency Releases FY 2021-2022 Annual Report to the Tri-Valley Community

News Release
2023 Annual Water Report

LIVERMORE, Calif. – Zone 7 Water Agency published its online Annual Report for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Residents of the Tri-Valley can browse the interactive Annual Report through the website’s accessible design to read highlights and achievements of the agency.

The Annual Report provides information about the organization’s operations in delivering safe water and flood protection services to 266,000 residents in Eastern Alameda County. The report looks at how Zone 7’s highly trained staff adapted throughout the year’s historic drought conditions and continued to make improvements to water quality and reliability.

The 2021-2022 year marked the third year of extreme drought conditions with record-breaking low precipitation negatively affecting system-wide reservoir levels and groundwater basins. In response, and in alignment with statewide efforts, the Agency declared a local drought emergency which allowed Zone 7 the flexibility to take immediate actions including: 

  • Expediting critical water reliability infrastructure projects including the completion of the Valley Booster Pump Station to relieve pressure on our groundwater production wells and increase water reliability during surface water emergencies.  
  • Increasing rebate amounts for Water Efficient Lawn Conversions, an important community-based water conservation effort that produces long-term water savings.
  • Collaborating more closely with retail partner agencies on drought and conservation messaging to engage the community in saving water.

“We offer our sincere appreciation to the entire Tri-Valley community for answering our conservation call and reducing water consumption by a total of 10% throughout the previous fiscal year,” noted General Manager Valerie Pryor.

The Agency, tasked with ensuring a reliable water supply for the Tri-Valley, also made progress on long-term water reliability efforts to ensure future water supply. Highlights of progress made on key water supply projects during the year include: 

  • Working collaboratively with eight regional water agencies to form a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) for the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Project, an effort to increase the reservoir’s capacity and build a pipeline to connect it to the South Bay Aqueduct.
  • Continuing participation in the Sites Reservoir Project, an effort to construct a new 1.5 million acre-foot off-stream reservoir to capture and store stormwater flows from the Sacramento River increasing Northern California’s surface storage capacity by 15%.
  • Approving funding for continued participation in the four-year planning phase of the Delta Conveyance Project, a project to add new conveyance facilities in the Delta.

Another important accomplishment was the completion of the upgrades to the Patterson Pass Water Treatment Plant. Zone 7 invested in major upgrades of both surface water treatment plants to switch to ozone as the primary disinfectant, making the treatment process more efficient and improving water quality to better serve the community. 

The Agency is also tasked with managing 37 miles of flood control channels and made progress on a new Flood Management Plan. In June 2022, the board adopted Phase 1 of the Flood Management Plan, Phase 2 is now underway including implementation, capital improvement, funding, and public engagement.

To read Zone 7 Water Agency’s Annual Report for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, visit: zone7water.report