SAN JOSE—After more than 40 years with the same logo, Santa Clara Valley Water District has begun to introduce a new logo, tagline and shortened moniker, as approved by the district board of directors in December. In this, the agency’s 90th year, Valley Water is celebrating by modernizing its name and visual brand to emphasize our forward-looking, environmentally conscious approach to water resources management.
The board chose the new logo after considering input from district employees and community-based focus group participants. Designed by internal staff, the new logo is intended to better represent the full mission of the water district. The top of drop evokes the valley’s mountain peaks, while the swoosh in the middle represents our local streams. The blue at the bottom reminds us of the groundwater beneath our feet, a critical component of our water supply.
Moreover, in addition to our traditional blue, the inclusion of a green color better represents Valley Water’s environmental stewardship mission, which includes watershed protection, habitat restoration and pollution prevention.
The new tagline, “Clean water · Healthy environment · Flood Protection,” is intended to concisely represent the core functions of the water district. The board chose it to help people understand what Valley Water does and how our work benefits the people of Santa Clara County.
“When I talk to people in the community, I always mention that environmental protection is the third element of our mission,” said Board Chair Linda J. LeZotte. “That, along with the positive response from the community focus groups, confirmed for me that our new, modernized logo, name and tagline more accurately portrays all our services to the community.”
The new moniker is Valley Water. The official name of the agency will remain Santa Clara Valley Water District, but Valley Water will be used as a shorter reference. The name is not new to the district, as for nearly 20 years the district’s website has been valleywater.org, and various district publications have commonly used the shorter name.
Today, the new logo was unveiled on the district website and social media platforms. Over the next few months, the new logo will begin to appear on signs, uniforms, vehicles and related items. To avoid wasting public resources, existing inventory of common materials with the legacy logo, including letterhead, envelopes and sandbags, will continue to be used, with the new logo appearing on these items only when they would normally come up for re-ordering.
