Contact: Susan Siravo
Office: (408) 265-2607, ext. 2290
Cell: (408) 398-0754
Dec. 14, 2009
SAN JOSE – On Dec.15, Sig Sanchez will retire from his post as board member of the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Sanchez has served on the water district board for 30 years. He will be honored by fellow board members, elected officials and water district staff following tomorrow’s board meeting.
What: Tribute to Sig Sanchez
When: Tuesday, Dec. 15th at 3:30 p.m.
Where: Santa Clara Valley Water District Headquarters
5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose
“Sig has been such an asset to us here at the district,” said CEO Beau Goldie. “He has a straightforward commonsense leadership approach that has helped Santa Clara County grow and prosper through flood and drought. When he speaks, you know he genuinely has the best interest of the public at heart.”
Prior to his appointment as an At-Large Director for the water district in 1980, Sanchez served the city of Gilroy for 10 years: five as a councilman, five as the mayor. He spent the next 16 years on Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
As a county supervisor, Sanchez advocated for the merger of the Santa Clara County Flood Control and Water District with the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District to better address flood management and water importation. He was also a key player in the 1987 merger of the Gavilan Water District in South County with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, allowing for full integration of all the county’s reservoirs and groundwater facilities.
“The water district at that time was simply a conservation district, that was its function. To have been able to play such a major role in bringing that merger about is one of the highlights of my career,” said Sanchez.
Additionally, Sanchez was instrumental in the 1992 development of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority, a joint organization of 32 water and irrigation agencies that contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation for water from the Central Valley Project. As a charter board member, some say he actually was a big part in keeping the group – a diverse collection with varying urban and agricultural interests – together and focused on common interests.
“When you think of controversy and contention in water issues, that role in being able to work through all that and keep people together as opposed to fighting is a huge role and significant for someone to be able to do,” said Dan Nelson, the Authority’s executive director. “We tend, in water, to fight over things as opposed to work through issues and Sig has been an important tool for us to work through those.”
Sanchez also played an important part in water importation into Santa Clara County, both with the county board of supervisors and the South Bay Aqueduct, and the water district board and the San Felipe project.
“Can you imagine what this county would be like if we didn’t have that supply? We certainly wouldn’t be Silicon Valley,” Sanchez said. “I feel pretty good that I happened to be on the board at that time and played a role to some extent, because you don’t do those things by yourself.”
“He really is the good side of being a politician and is what people should think a politician should be. If more of them patterned their behavior after Sig, we wouldn’t have all the garbage going on in local, state and federal government as we do today,” said Don Gage, county supervisor for Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Los Gatos and San Jose.
Sanchez’s public service to this county was extensive. Over his career, he served as a board member of HOPE Rehabilitation, Wheeler Hospital Foundation Board and the Gilroy Elks Club. He was inducted into the Gilroy Hall of Fame in 1991 and has a 10-mile portion of state Highway Route 101 named for him, which was an honor from county supervisors for his 12-year effort to lobby various government agencies to build the highway.
“Never did I ever expect that this was going to go on for 55 years, it just happened, you know. I love this district, this district is recognized statewide as a premiere district and I’m proud of the fact that we’ve done a good job,” said Sanchez.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District manages water resources and provides stewardship for the county’s five watersheds, including 10 reservoirs, hundreds of miles of streams and groundwater basins. The water district also provides flood protection throughout Santa Clara County.