A staff report issued ahead of a vote Tuesday by the water district's board shows that the agency wants to pay $3.4 million for four parcels in San Jose's east foothills between Highway 101 and Anderson Reservoir.

District officials say the properties are needed for the largest water provider in Silicon Valley to comply with federal and state environmental laws. Agencies such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service required the district to buy open land to provide habitat for endangered species such as the California red-legged frog and the California tiger salamander. This would offset harm to those species when the agency clears gravel and brush in hundreds of miles of streams to provide flood protection.

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