Stop the Pacheco Dam Project

Our coalition aims to protect Santa Clara County’s ratepayers and the environment, as well as working ranchlands, from this wasteful and high-risk new dam.

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

We raised our voices, and we stopped the dam! After years of advocacy, @valleywater is walking away from the costly Pacheco Reservoir project.

Thank you to our community partners including @SaveMountDiablo, @SierraClubCA, Center for Biological Diversity, Save the Bay, @CalRivers, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and all community members who spoke out over the many years. Your efforts not only exposed the project's flaws, but also helped shift the focus toward long-term, sustainable water solutions.

Read more from Paul Rodgers at @mercurynews: https://t.co/Ht9P4tT4Zc

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

The flawed Pacheco Dam project was cancelled, saving Pacheco Pass!

This is an important milestone, proving what’s possible when we come together to protect our environment and communities.

We’re grateful to the many partners whose voices and dedication helped make this victory possible. While we celebrate, our coalition members will keep pushing for more sustainable and affordable water solutions and Stop Pacheco Dam will respond if this flawed dam project ever resurfaces.

Center for Biological Diversity,@SierraClubCA, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Save Mount Diablo, @calrivers, California Native Plant Society.
#PachecoDam #SantaClaraCounty

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

Concrete dams destroy habitat. Groundwater storage doesn’t. It’s the smarter, safer, and more sustainable way to manage water in California.
#StopPachecoDam #SustainableSolutions #GroundwaterMatters

[valleywater @valleywater]

On Aug. 26, 2025, the Valley Water Board of Directors voted to suspend development of the proposed Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project.

Read the full news release: https://t.co/0EBxmWpvRU

[Jocelyn Anderson Photography @JocAPhotography]

A young Northern Cardinal letting mom know that he is hungry and ready to eat. (I believe it's a young male due to the amount of red on the face, but I could be wrong; the young bird could be a colorful female.)

[Jocelyn Anderson Photography @JocAPhotography]

A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird zipping through the Salvia.

[US Department of the Interior @Interior]

As we look back on the history of our National Park System, we can’t help but feel proud and grateful.

These places tell America’s story, preserving our history, culture, and natural wonders for generations to come.

[Chris Chalk | Wildlife Photographer 📷 @ChrisChalkPhoto]

Tree Hugger. Red Squirrels have very flexible ankle joints. When a squirrel wants to climb down a tree it rotates its feet 180 degrees and hangs from its back legs. In human terms that would mean rotating your feet around until they were pointing backwards. #NatureLovers

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

Flooding Pacheco Pass would destroy centuries of indigenous history. @ValleyWater should make more sustainable water solutions and protect what cannot be replaced. #StopPachecoDam #CulturalPreservation

[Save The World's Rivers! @SaveWorldRivers]

GROSS DAM EXPANSION = $819,000,000

The media keeps reporting that the Gross Dam expansion will cost $531 million, which was a 2021 estimate posted on Denver Water's website. The actual cost in the Denver Water 2025 budget is $819 million. See page 81 here, and the clip-out below: https://t.co/PELLJBonIr

For reference, the Gross Dam project will divert a new 10,285 acre feet of water/year (on average) out of the Fraser and Williams Fork Rivers.

The cost per acre-foot of new diversion is around $80,000.

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

Still no consistent timeline. Still no transparency. And now, costs are soaring past $5 billion. Why is Valley Water still pushing the Pacheco Dam?
#StopPachecoDam #SmartWaterSolutions

[Manoco @Moonlighhy]

An American Goldfinch enjoying a peaceful bath.

[Maven @MavensNotebook]

New setbacks could be fatal for $2.7 billion plan to build major reservoir in Santa Clara County #cawater https://t.co/4qEa1JnlOE

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

The @CA_WaterCom just gave the 2.7+ billion-dollar Pacheco Dam project a reality check by unanimously voting not to increase funding levels for inflation due to @valleywater's failure to make progress on the project. Now, it has been delayed to 2029 and is falling apart fast!

Even Valley Water board members finally admit it’s time to "pull the plug". Now more than ever, we need to keep the pressure up.

Read more from @PaulRogersSJM at @mercurynews: https://t.co/VUSfYzdQ1p

#StopPachecoDam #KeepPachecoWild

[Paul Rogers @PaulRogersSJM]

New setbacks could be fatal for $2.7 billion plan to build major reservoir in Santa Clara County https://t.co/UV8dZOmdmn

[US Department of the Interior @Interior]

In Iowa's Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge, a raccoon takes refuge in a tree cavity on a windy afternoon. Raccoons are highly adaptable animals capable of living in forests, mountains, marshes, and urban areas.

Photo by Jessica Bolser / @USFWS

[National Park Service @NatlParkService]

Others: What are your hobbies?

Me: I love coming home and being at home and sitting inside my home and staying home.

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

@valleywater's own staff report shows the most serious cracks in the foundation of the Pacheco Dam project yet. The @usbr dropped a bombshell this month that it won’t provide federal water from San Luis Reservoir for the project. Getting another water source doesn’t look easy, either. This project is falling apart, and Valley Water needs to let it go.

📅 Attend the upcoming meeting and share your concerns!
🗣️ Email your public comment or show up and speak at the meeting.
📄 Read meeting details and the staff report: https://t.co/Eta3lOWzsM

Let’s hold Valley Water accountable and push for better and feasible solutions.

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

The proposed Pacheco Reservoir expansion would flood over 1,500 acres of protected land, destroying rare habitats, block critical wildlife corridors, and threaten species like the California tiger salamander and Crotch’s bumble bee. All this for a project with skyrocketing costs, no secured water rights, and questionable public benefit.

Read more from @SaveMountDiablo and learn how you can help stop this destructive project: https://t.co/kl6PzPn1uS
#StopPachecoDam #SaveMountDiablo #WildlifeMatters #SmartWaterSolutions

[Stop the Pacheco Dam Project @StopPachecoDam]

Meet the Crotch’s bumble bee, a once-common native pollinator now critically endangered. One of its last habitats? Pacheco Pass, land that would be flooded by the Pacheco Dam.

Protect the bees. Protect the land. #WorldHoneyBeeDay #CrotchsBumbleBee #StopPachecoDam