Organization
A Dependent Special District Established Under the Alameda County Flood Control & Conservation District Act
Zone 7 Water Agency is a dependent special district established under the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Act. The Act (Chapter 55 of the California Water Code Appendix) was passed by the State Legislature in 1949.
Meetings among Tri-Valley leaders resulted in new legislation being brought forth in 1955 – the same year there was major flooding in the valley.
The Agency was officially established by a vote of the residents of the Livermore-Amador Valley area in 1957, with its own independent elected board to provide local control of integrated water resources.
Once established, the Zone 7 Board opted to be a wholesaler of water rather than to deliver water directly to individual residential and business customers as a retailer. The model continues today with Zone 7 serving as a wholesaler to four retail water customers, the City of Livermore, the City of Pleasanton, Dublin-San Ramon Services District and California Water Service Company – Livermore District. These retailers distribute the water to municipal and industrial customers in Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, and through special agreement with Dublin San Ramon Services District, the Dougherty Valley portion of San Ramon
Upon its creation, the Zone 7 Board began asserting rights to some local water resources and negotiating for imported Sierra water to be conveyed by the State Water Project via the Delta and the planned South Bay Aqueduct. Zone 7’s intention to join the association planning the Aqueduct was formalized by the Board’s first resolution on August 5, 1957. This landmark decision serves the agency’s customers well to this day.
The Agency’s Administrative Office is located in the City of Livermore in Alameda County. The Agency currently serves a population of over 260,000 people and it is responsible for providing wholesale treated (drinking) and untreated (agricultural) water, flood control and groundwater management throughout eastern Alameda County.
The Agency provides wholesale potable (treated) water to retail water suppliers, untreated irrigation water, and flood protection services. Its territory includes 425 square miles of eastern Alameda County. The Agency has broad power to finance, construct and operate a system for the transportation, storage, treatment and distribution of water.
The agency has taken Tri-Valley a long way to resolving many of its water supply, water quality and flood protection issues over the past 60-plus years.
Read Chapter 55: District Act