Valley Water, the agency that runs flood control and water supply for Santa Clara County, declared an El Niño emergency on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. The agency says the declaration lets it move faster to buy the equipment, materials and services it needs before winter storms hit San Jose, Palo Alto, Morgan Hill and the rest of the county.

Why it matters: Forecasters expect a strengthening El Niño to bring above-average rain to Northern California this winter. An emergency declaration lets a public agency skip some of the slow, normal purchasing steps when it needs gear or crews in a hurry.

What the declaration does

Valley Water said the emergency authority allows it to "rapidly procure essential equipment, services, and materials needed to safeguard life, property, and critical public services." That can include staging flood-fight supplies and lining up specialized contractors to protect its dams, levees, creeks and pipelines.

Spokesperson Matt Keller told ABC7 the declaration could help the agency quickly get tractors or excavators to clear debris that could block creeks and cause flooding. It also lets Valley Water turn to other suppliers if its regular sandbag vendors 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 move follows Gov. Gavin Newsom's statewide El Niño emergency proclamation on Sept. 21, which he issued after NOAA forecasts showed the pattern strengthening. Valley Water's Board of Directors will review and reaffirm the emergency at each regular meeting as long as conditions call for it. The board's next regular meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 11 a.m. at agency headquarters, 5700 Almaden Expressway in San Jose.

Creek work and sandbags

The agency says it has been clearing creeks across the county since June. "Over the summer, we had about 150 projects here in Santa Clara County. We call it our stream maintenance program," Keller told ABC7.

Keller said Valley Water had just delivered 24,000 sandbags to its five sites, and ABC7 found residents already picking up bags ahead of Wednesday's rain. The agency lists these five sites it manages:

  • Alviso: 5030 N. First St., behind George Mayne Elementary School (entrance on Wilson Way)
  • Morgan Hill: 171 W. Edmundson Ave.
  • Palo Alto: Palo Alto Air Terminal, 1925 Embarcadero Road
  • San Jose: City Central Service Yard, 1661 Senter Road at Phelan Avenue
  • San Jose: Winfield Warehouse, Winfield Boulevard between Blossom Hill Road and Coleman Avenue

Valley Water's site page says sandbags normally run Nov. 1 through April 15, subject to change with the weather, and that some city-run sites may require proof of residency or have only sand and empty bags during storms. The agency posts webcams at the Phelan, Alviso and Morgan Hill sites so you can check supplies before driving over.

This week's rain

The emergency comes as the first meaningful rain since spring reaches the Bay Area. The San Francisco Chronicle forecast about a tenth of an inch for San Francisco and Oakland on Wednesday, Oct. 21, with totals near a quarter inch in parts of the Peninsula, South Bay and East Bay and more in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The heaviest rain is expected Wednesday evening, in time for the commute. See our full rain forecast.

San Jose residents can also read about the city's own El Niño storm prep and sandbag plans. Valley Water's flood preparedness tools are at valleywater.org/floodready.