Host: Santa Clara Valley Water District
Region: Bay Area
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Climate Adaptation, Waste Management, Water Reuse
Skills Needed: Community Engagement, Technical Writing, Communication

Service Needs & Plans

As Santa Clara County’s water supplier, the Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) is aware of the challenges that continue to impact the reliability of our water supply. Climate change, intensifying and more frequent droughts, population growth and environmental factors affect the quantity and quality of water available to meet demands. In response, Valley Water is expanding its water reuse efforts through advanced water purification technology that can provide millions of gallons per day of high quality, drought-resistant water for both drinking and non-drinking purposes.

In partnership with our community partners, the cities of San José and Santa Clara, Valley Water opened the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center (SVAWPC), northern California’s largest advanced water purification center.  It serves as a demonstration facility to showcase the purification process as well as raise awareness of the benefits of recycled and purified water and help obtain public support for this water management strategy.  As Valley Water pursues the expansion of water reuse projects, gaining public acceptance and support for using this sustainable water source to bolster our local drinking water supply is imperative.

A significant challenge to pursuing a potable water reuse project is the potential for organized opposition. One thing we’ve learned from other agencies who have pursued potable reuse projects, includes the significance of robust communication and educational efforts. There have been water agencies who experienced a derailment in project operations or significant delays because the public did not feel sufficiently informed. This resulted in skepticism and organized opposition. Valley Water is striving to prevent this with a comprehensive communication and outreach strategy.

The outreach needs for this project include sustaining and revitalizing the existing SVAWPC tour program to engage diverse and inclusive audiences. As Valley Water pursues the Purified Water Project, staff is seeking to build relationships with a variety of community groups including faith-based organizations and community organizations that serve underrepresented groups, including communities of color. By meeting face-to-face with the leaders of these organizations we hope to raise awareness and offer transparency of Valley Water operations. Just as important as securing a reliable water supply, is having the public’s trust and support in pursuing this sustainable water source. Valley Water hopes to achieve that by fostering a forum for conversation among residents in Santa Clara, where all are invited and welcome to voice questions or concerns.

Project Description

The goal of this project is to gain support from the community for Valley Water’s potable reuse efforts. By building relationships with community leaders and organizations, we hope to recruit and mobilize vocal advocates who can help share information and raise awareness among their immediate communities. The overarching goals related to supporting the Purified Water Outreach Program include: 

• Gain public acceptance of potable reuse through education and community outreach.
• Build key stakeholder support through engagement and outreach.
• Obtain visible and vocal demonstrations of support from community leaders, including elected and health officials (whether in the form of letters or testimonials).
• Rapidly respond to concerns of groups or individuals opposed to potable reuse.
• Target multi-ethnic communities, youth and underrepresented groups and provide opportunities for learning while addressing concerns.

The CivicSpark Fellow will provide critical support in obtaining community acceptance for potable reuse. The role of the Fellow under this project include:

• Support public communication and outreach activities for the purified water program, including researching and prioritizing key community leaders and groups to engage, as well as facilitating stakeholder interviews (meet and greets?) 
• Assist with revamping and refreshing tour content including developing educational and social media materials, and key messages tailored for different key stakeholder groups.
• Support educational tours (in-person and virtual) for different stakeholder groups, including youth, community leaders, faith-based leaders, etc.
• Assist with the coordination and implementation of Open House events for key stakeholder groups
• Assist in developing and revising metrics to track the success of current and future outreach activities.

Some of the anticipated project outcomes include:

• Build strong support base for a locally controlled, high-quality water supply by increasing the number of video testimonials and subscriptions to Valley Water’s supporter list
• Achieve quarterly outreach goals of meetings with community and organizational leaders.
• Increase community education and awareness on water reliability by reaching more than 800 community members through tours throughout the year
• Host at least one onsite Open House event and one internal event for employees
• Develop quarterly communication blogs and regularly scheduled social media content for outreach and community education

Valley Water must educate and raise public awareness of its potable reuse efforts as a viable solution to address future droughts. Building community awareness and support for recycled water programs in Santa Clara County is key to the development and construction of purification facilities and necessary infrastructure to pave the way for potable reuse, such as groundwater replenishment. Valley Water will accomplish this through a cohesive and strategic approach that will build widespread and vocal support among key stakeholders and local community leaders. These key stakeholders and local leaders will provide active vocal and written support for advanced purified water use in Santa Clara County. By serving as influencers and advocates, these leaders can help be community spokespeople for Valley Water’s water reuse efforts, helping inform diverse audiences, assisting in addressing misinformation and to build public trust.

Desired Skills

An ideal Fellow will have:

• Excellent public speaking and interpersonal skills
• Solid writing/ editing skills, communications, customer service skills
• Ability to multitask, problem solve, think creatively, and prioritize tasks
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, particularly PPT, and other online cloud-based tools such as Google Drive.
• Comfortable with using or learning social media tools, photography/ video software, marketing, and database tools and/or other online cloud-based systems such as Zoom and Prezi
• Solid organization skills, project coordination skills, and relationship building skills
• Should be a self-starter, detail-oriented, reliable
• Collaborative

Organization & Community Highlights

Valley Water strives to attract, develop and retain a talented and diverse workforce by promoting high performance, diversity and equal employment opportunities. The workplace culture is inclusive and collaborative, and would provide the Fellow with access to:

• A professional network of public sector employees from diverse, cultural and professional backgrounds, and relationship building with grantee organizations in Santa Clara County
• Valley Water’s Workforce Development Program which provides year-round professional development and career skills workshops and sessions to enhance job knowledge and skills
• Valley Water has received several workplace awards in the recent years, including “Healthiest Employer in the SF Bay Area” in 2018, 2019, and 2021
• Valley Water’s growing Office of Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion which manages special events, programs, speakers and initiatives to enhance cultural competency and strengthen Valley Waters inclusion efforts. This also includes the Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) which encourage interaction and understanding across cultures and experiences.

Remote or On-Site Placement

A candidate that is partially remote may be considered; however, due to the nature of the work to assist with in-person tours, and open house events, the candidate would need to reside locally in order to be able to come on site for those in-person activities/events. The Fellow may also serve their term in a hybrid schedule of in-office and remote work if desired.