Environment

I’m Jared Lewis, Manager of Environmental Planning and Natural Resources at San Jose Water. In this role, I direct environmental management, stewardship, wildfire resiliency, and water resource programs and policy. I also manage watershed and asset planning, resource protection, risk mitigation, and oversee long-range planning initiatives for land use, conservation, and ecosystem restoration.

Mountain lions (also known as pumas and panthers), are an important apex predator in local and regional ecosystems. Recent studies of mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains estimate that the population likely comprises less than 50 animals.

There are over 8,000 acoustic, leak-detecting sensors installed on hydrants in San Jose Water’s distribution system. The initial deployment of 2,000 of these sensors used 3G to communicate changes in acoustic noise — signifying a potential leak. As all cell carriers are phasing out 3G by the end of 2022, SJW proactively replaced these with newer, 4G nodes this year. However, disposing of 2,000 sensors had to be done carefully and thoughtfully.