Summer Internship in the Information Technology Division Deputy's Office
Santa Clara Valley Water DistrictDescription
SUMMER INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY!
Summer Internship in the Information Technology Division Deputy's Office
Location: Valley Water Headquarters (5700 Almaden Expy. San Jose, CA)
1 Internship Available!
OVERVIEW
Do you want to make a difference in your community while also gaining priceless career experience? Do you want to expand your network and build your resume while learning about the water industry? If so, a summer internship with Valley Water may be the best choice for you! Join us and use your talents to help maintain safe and clean water for a healthy environment.
Our Commitment:
We are committed to building and sustaining a working environment where all individuals are respected and valued. We believe every member of our team brings unique perspectives that enhance our ability to serve the public effectively. By fostering a workplace with employees from the communities we serve, we broaden our collective understanding of the world around us and strengthen our mission to equitably provide safe, clean water, natural flood protection, and environmental stewardship.
About Valley Water:
Valley Water is a public agency with an operating and capital budget of $964 million, and over 900 employees. With headquarters in San José, Valley Water provides water supply, enhances streams and watersheds through creek restoration and habitat protection, provides flood protection for homes, schools, businesses and roadways, and partners with other agencies to provide trails and open space for the community.
About Next Gen Career Pathway’s Summer Internships:
The 2026 College Summer Internship Program offers students nationwide a chance to gain practical experience while exploring careers in the water industry. Each intern will have a Valley Water staff mentor and will receive professional development training, participate in networking events, and prepare a capstone presentation at the end of the program. Although some positions in the program will follow a hybrid format, with a mix of in-office and remote work based on business needs, other roles may require interns to work on-site full-time in a lab, office, or field setting, as specified in the job postings.
About the Information Technology Division Deputy’s Office:
The Information Technology Division Deputy’s Office leads and oversees the IT Division and ensures that core IT services are met for all infrastructure, applications, networking, data center, and customer services. The Division supports 13 staffed facilities with secure networks connecting over 80 locations, 400 physical and virtual servers, and 2,400 computers/tablets and has a central data center with 9 satellite data centers for business continuity. In addition, the Division supports a hybrid TDM/VoIP telecommunications network with over 2,500 phones, 180 emergency service radios, 400+ mobile devices, and 200+ software applications including: ERP (Infor), Asset Management (IBM Maximo), Email/calendar (Microsoft Exchange), Microsoft Active Directory, and GIS (ESRI). The IT Division is broken into four business units: Innovation, IT Projects & Business Operations, Software Services, and Infrastructure Services.
The Information Technology Division Deputy’s Office is seeking a highly motivated Graduate Student Intern to support advanced AI-driven modeling of watershed hydrology and water demand. This internship will focus on developing predictive models for streamflow, watershed response, and treated water demand for a major watershed serving Santa Clara County.
The selected intern will work with hydrologists, engineers, and data scientists to apply machine learning and data-driven approaches to real-world water resource and water treatment challenges, supporting flood management, water supply reliability, and long-term planning under climate and demand uncertainty.
INTERNSHIP LOCATION STATUS: This internship will be reporting in-person 100% of the time. In the future, this position may be eligible for a hybrid telework schedule with supervisor approval.
Required License or Certificate
DESIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
- Students currently pursuing a Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a closely related field
- Demonstrated experience building predictive or statistical models
- Strong programming skills in Python
- Experience working with time-series data, AI development and modeling stacks
- Ability to communicate technical results to interdisciplinary teams
- Completed coursework or experience in machine learning, deep learning, or statistical modeling
- Familiarity with one or more of the following, or willing to learn:
- Hydrology or watershed modeling
- Water demand forecasting
- Water treatment or water supply systems
- Climate or environmental data
- Experience working with large, real-world datasets
- Interest in applying AI to public-sector, infrastructure, or environmental systems
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND INTERNSHIP TASKS (Representative duties include, but are not limited to):
- Develop and evaluate predictive models for:
- Watershed hydrology and streamflow
- Water demand relevant to treatment and supply operations
- Apply AI/ML techniques to time-series hydrologic, meteorological, operational, and demand datasets
- Explore methods such as regression, tree-based models, neural networks, and deep learning (e.g., LSTM or transformer-based time-series models)
- Integrate hydrologic understanding and water system operations into model design and feature engineering
- Assess model performance, uncertainty, and sensitivity
- Document methodologies and results for technical audiences
- Present findings and recommendations at the conclusion of the internship
- Watershed hydrology and streamflow
- Apply AI methods to operational watershed and water treatment systems
- Gain exposure to hydrology, water demand forecasting, and water resource management
- Collaborate with scientists and engineers addressing real-world water challenges
- Contribute to innovative tools supporting sustainable water management in Silicon Valley
Selection Process
ELIGIBILITY:
- Undergraduate applicants must be enrolled in an accredited community college or college/university and have completed at least two full-time years of study (i.e., entering their third/rising third or fourth year) by Fall 2026, or have graduated within the past six months.
- Graduate applicants must be enrolled in an accredited graduate program at a college or university in Fall 2026 or have completed their degree within the past six months.
- Proof of enrollment will be required prior to the start of the assignment.
- Applicants must be able to work full-time (40 hours/week) during the College Summer Internship Program.
- Only applicants who have not participated in a Valley Water College Summer Internship Program before will be considered.
- Valley Water requires interns to work within 150 miles of the Valley Water office they are to report to by their start date. The intern must perform their work in the State of California, not more than 150 miles from Valley Water’s Headquarters’ (5700 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, CA, or Valley Water’s Sacramento Office: 1121 L Street, Suite 1000, Sacramento, CA) for the duration of their internship.
- Selected candidates must pass a pre-employment screening process, which includes reference and background/criminal checks.
APPLICATION PROCESS:
Applications will be accepted February 2 through February 15, 2026.
To apply, applicants must submit the following through the online application system:
- A fully completed online Employment Application with all required questions answered. We encourage applicants to share details about relevant work experience, academic projects, volunteer activities, and/or extracurricular involvement.
- Complete the supplemental questions in the job application with detail and honesty. These questions help us better understand your interests and experiences. If you are applying to multiple internships, please tailor your answer to every internship you are applying for. Please ensure your supplemental responses are specific to each internship job posting. Do not indicate "see resume" as a response to any of the questions.
- Resumes and cover letters are optional but are helpful and appreciated by the Mentors reviewing the applications. Please label and include these documents in the “Attachments” section.
- Former participants in Valley Water’s Summer Internship or Water Works Program are not eligible to apply.