In an outcome that could change whether Silicon Valley’s largest water district moves forward with a $2.5 billion plan to build a new dam at Pacheco Pass, voters have shaken up the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board.
Gary Kremen, a tech investor who co-founded Match.com and once owned domain names like sex.com, jobs.com and housing.com, has been defeated in his effort to seek re-election to a third term by Rebecca Eisenberg, a Palo Alto attorney.
Kremen conceded Wednesday after county elections officials updated the count and reported he was trailing 54.8% to 45.2% — or by 7,765 votes with roughly 8,000 ballots left to count. He was seeking re-election to the water district’s 7th district, which represents Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and parts of South San Jose
“I very much respect the will of the voters and wish the winner and the water district well,” Kremen said.
Eisenberg, who ran unsuccessfully for Palo Alto City Council in 2020, worked in the past as an attorney for PayPal, Trulia, Reddit and other companies.
“I’m feeling extraordinarily honored and grateful. I’m excited to get started,” she said.
California has entered the fourth year of a severe drought. The Santa Clara Valley Water District, a government agency based in San Jose, provides drinking water and flood protection to 2 million people in Santa Clara County.
The district has struggled during the drought. Two years ago, federal regulators ordered its largest reservoir, Anderson, near Morgan Hill, drained for earthquake repairs. That project has doubled in price to $1.2 billion and won’t be completed until about 2031.
Short of water, the district has pumped groundwater supplies, pushed conservation, and purchased water from farmers with senior rights in the Sacramento Valley, and other sources, often at very high prices.
A narrow majority on the board, including Kremen, has supported building a 320-foot-high earthen dam on the North Fork of Pacheco Creek in the rugged canyons about two miles north of Highway 152 in Southern Santa Clara County near Henry Coe State Park. At 140,000 acre feet, it would be the largest reservoir built in the Bay Area in 20 years.
Construction would start in 2025 and finish in 2032. But the project, which was considered more than 20 years ago and dropped by the water district, has tripled in cost since 2017 to $2.5 billion after geological studies found rock in the area was unstable and the dam would need more anchoring than previously thought. Although the district received a $485 million state grant, other Bay Area water districts and the federal government have so far not agreed to help pay the cost. And environmental groups and rural landowners have sued to block it.
Kremen has been a major supporter of the project, along with board members Tony Estremera, Dick Santos and John Varela. With Kremen leaving the board Dec. 2 when new board members are sworn in, the project’s future is in question.
Eisenberg, 54, said she opposes the Pacheco dam project, and would dramatically expand water recycling instead, along with pursuing storm water capture projects.
“Our county is ready to double down and invest in sustainable infrastructure,” she said Wednesday. “People want responsible management.”
On Nov. 8, four of the district’s seven board members were up for re-election. Estremera, who has served 26 years on the board, won his race for another four-year term, defeating Chuck Cantrell, a member of the San Jose Planning Commission, and Diego Barragan, a former aide to San Jose city councilmembers Xavier Campos, Kansen Chu and Margie Mathews.
Varela, a former Morgan Hill mayor, ran unopposed for re-election, as did Jim Beall, a former state senator who ran for a seat open with the retirement of incumbent Linda LeZotte.
Kremen, an electrical engineer who first won election to the district in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018, pushed for more water storage, expedited work on flood control projects in San Francisquito Creek, and increased financial transparency.
But he was hamstrung by controversy over the past year. In March, he stepped aside as water district board chairman and shut down his campaign to unseat longtime Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone after semi-nude photos of him and his girlfriend were sent to a campaign aide.
Kremen also was part of the 4-3 majority that placed a ballot measure critics called misleading on the June ballot to extend the term limits of water district board members. And last month, an outside investigator said he had been abusive and rude on multiple instances to water district staff members.
“Voters wanted a change,” Eisenberg said.