Drought Leaves San Jose's Guadalupe River Bone Dry
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – Mile after mile, weeds and rocks, trash and dead fish litter the riverbed where water used to flow in downtown San Jose.
"It's rough to see everything dry, yeah. But I basically haven't watered my lawn all summer," said Andrew Reynolds of San Jose
Riding out this drought isn't going to be easy for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
"It's very difficult," Colleen Valles of the water district told KPIX 5. "We want to maintain habitat and we want to maintain our groundwater and there's really not enough water to do both well."
"I'm standing at the bottom of the Guadalupe and as you can see there isn't a drop of water in sight.
The district said even if they release a lot of water into the river, the bone-dry soil will soak it up, and it will disappear within a month.
Two years ago, the Guadalupe River was home to many animals like ducks, beavers and other wildlife. Many of them have since left or died. Today, the river isn't flowing at all, even in spots where there's water.
"It's a little discouraging because I come from Colorado and everything's thriving and the fish are alive and the hatcheries are stocking the places because there's plentiful water," said Max Gallegos of San Jose.
"It'd be nice to see it flowing, but we are in our 4th year of drought so we can only work with what Mother Nature gives us," Valles said.