Cupertino Owned Water Service Infrastructure

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The City of Cupertino water services are provided to residents and businesses through three separate water systems (City of Cupertino Water Service Areas). Two of those systems are owned and operated by investor-owned and operated private Class A utility companies. California Water Services (green area) provides water services within the northeastern portion of the City and San Jose Water Company (orange area) provides water service to the southeastern portion.

The City’s own water distribution infrastructure system (purple area) is located in the western portion of the City as shown in purple on the water services area map. The System purchases, treats and delivers approximately 3 million gallons of potable water per day to residences and businesses. The System is comprised of approximately 4,600 water service connections, 50 miles of pipelines, three storage tanks, one pump station and two wells. There is one emergency intertie each between the adjacent water systems operated by the City of Sunnyvale and the San Jose Water Company and the City-owned Water System.

The City’s System is currently operated by San Jose Water Company (SJWC) per a lease agreement that was executed in 1997 and amended in 2019. The lease was set to expire on September 30, 2022 but was extended by two additional years. This page provides information related to past, present and future operation of the City owned water system.

1997 Lease Agreement

Amended and Restated Lease Agreement

Water System Map

Key Lease Terms (Discussed at 11/2/21 Council Meeting)

Proposed First Amendment of Current Lease (Discussed at 11/2/21 Council Meeting)

State Water Resources Control Board Permit 68-43 Amendment

November 2, 2021 Pubic Hearing

On November 2, 2021 at 6:45 PM, the City Council considered two items related to the future operations of the municipal water system. This first item was input on proposed key terms, which was to be included in an upcoming RFP for a new long-term Lease. The key terms was for a proposed Request for Proposal (RFP) for the future operation of City owned water distribution infrastructure. The second item was the first amendment of the current lease agreement between the City of Cupertino (City) and San Jose Water Company (SJWC) to extend the term by up to three years and require certain capital improvements. A Public Hearing Notice for that meeting was distributed October 22, 2021.

The City Council moved to approve staff recommendations in the staff report. This can be viewed online HERE.

FAQs

Reason for the First Amendment to the Current Lease between the City and San Jose Water Company

The current lease with San Jose Water Company (SJWC) for the operation of the Cupertino Municipal Water System expires in September 2022. The proposed Request for Proposal (RFP) will solicit proposals from qualified water system operators for a new long-term lease that would begin following expiration of the current lease. In order to ensure adequate time to conduct the RFP process or to consider other alternatives for future operation of the Water System, the first amendment of the current lease between the City and SJWC would allow the City to extend the term by up to three additional years and if extended, would require SJWC to make certain capital investments in the Cupertino Municipal Water System. If an additional extension of the term, as authorized by the amendment, is not required by the City, then the term of the current lease will expire on September 30, 2022 without any further extension.

Billing Impacts

By providing input on key terms to an upcoming RFP for a new lease and voting to approve the first amendment to the current lease, the City Council will not be authorizing any particular water rate changes. Specific questions can be directed to San Jose Water by calling 408-279-7900 or visiting www.sjwater.com.

How could this effect my water rates?

By providing input on key terms to an upcoming RFP for a new lease and voting to amend the current lease, the City Council will not be authorizing any particular water rate changes. Since January 2017, customers of the Cupertino Municipal Water System with service provided by SJWC have had a lower cost of water compared to customers of SJWC’s own water system in Cupertino.