Loma Prieta Chapter members love our local open spaces and want to know about environmental threats to assets such as the Bay, which we are actively working to protect.
Kayakers, paddleboarders, birdwatchers, and hikers enjoy the South San Francisco Bay marshes and sloughs and want to know that the water is safe for people, for the wildlife that depends on it, and for the vital ecology of the Bay itself. Unfortunately, in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, usually environmentally conscious cities, polluted discharges are sending dangerous levels of bacteria into creeks and into the Bay. This is the subject of a lawsuit filed by San Francisco Baykeeper in 2020 and recently decided in their favor on March 31, 2026.
This isn’t just an abstract problem. Excess bacterial pollution causes algae blooms, strips oxygen from the water, and releases harmful gasses. People who ingest or come in contact with the water risk health issues such as gastrointestinal infections, skin rashes, and respiratory problems. Fish and other aquatic organisms suffer too when oxygen is depleted.
Baykeeper, a nonprofit watchdog, has been testing local creeks and sloughs for years. Their data showed a consistent pattern of elevated bacterial pollution (at levels 50 times higher than the legal limits) in Sunnyvale and Mountain View creeks (Stevens Creek, Calabazas Creek, and Sunnyvale East Channel/Guadalupe Slough). The cities’ own measurements confirm bacteria levels exceeding the Regional Water Quality Control Board’s limits. District Court Judge Edward Davila agreed in his decision, upholding 1,208 Clean Water Act violations in Stevens Creek and Calabazas Creek, and imposing civil penalties of $1,178,400 per city.
Instead of partnering to solve the problem, Sunnyvale and Mountain View, usually environmentally conscious cities, tried five different times to dismiss Baykeeper’s lawsuit. They even attempted to have the waterways designated as not subject to the EPA Clean Water Act, Now, they are likely to appeal the decision.
The cities have argued that they are taking action prescribed under the regional water quality permit and they don’t need a private non-profit to supervise their affairs, which is the normal course of action when plaintiffs prevail in cases such as this. Now they are facing financial penalties and required actions that will further increase costs and budget impacts.
On April 7, 2026 Judge Davila set the schedule for hearings to determine terms of a Permanent Injunction to set forth required actions to address the pollution. The Court found that there is a non-stormwater, human source of bacterial pollution contributing to flows from the cities’ outfalls in amounts which pose a danger to health and safety.
On August 12, 2025 the Sunnyvale City Council approved an appeal which would extend the trial and further increase litigation costs. Mountain View has also discussed an appeal. Most importantly, appeals will further delay actions to protect the environment.
This isn’t how it has to be. When Baykeeper uncovered similar pollution in San Jose’s Guadalupe River a decade ago, San Jose chose a different path. The City Council settled, agreed to a consent decree, and can now report improvements over a 10-year period. That settlement funded real improvements for cleaner water.
The residents in Sunnyvale and Mountain View deserve transparency and visibility on this pressing environmental issue. The cause of the bacteria pollution is still unknown. Baykeeper has proposed several theories such as crumbling sewer infrastructure, illegal RV releases, or pollution caused by unhoused encampments.
Rather than continuing to deny and delay, the cities should accept Bay Keeper’s Injunction. They should take responsibility to continue tracking E. coli levels and identify the source(s) of the bacteria.
Then the cities can develop action plans with projects and timelines to solve the problems. Addressing the problem requires an action plan, not more delays. The cities should stop wasting time and money fighting Baykeeper and get on with solutions.