REGIONWIDE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Development Programs

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California | The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) supplies water to the majority of customers in Southern California. In order to ensure these customers of a reliable water supply, MWD has embarked on a $3.9 billion Capital Improvement Program, which includes the $2 billion Diamond Valley Reservoir near Hemet. This reservoir will significantly increase MWD's current water storage capacity and provide up to six months of emergency water if an earthquake ruptures the aqueduct that brings in most of the region's supply. MWD has planned this and other improvement projects to make more water available locally and to protect us from the next drought and from emergency water shortages.

San Diego County Water Authority | The San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) is in the midst of a $720 million Capital Improvement Program designed to provide the area with needed storage and delivery facilities to meet the region's needs to 2010. A major feature of this program is a series of pipeline projects now underway. CWA has five major pipelines with the combined capacity to carry 900 million gallons a day. These pipelines bring either filtered or raw water into San Diego County from MWD, which imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California. CWA is also working to fully develop local water resources through water reclamation, groundwater recovery, conservation and possibly seawater desalination.

Another major project currently underway by CWA is the Emergency Water Storage Project. Everyone in San Diego County would be affected if the facilities carrying our imported water were severed by an earthquake or other disaster. The Emergency Storage Project aims to correct this situation by increasing the amount of water available within the county for emergencies.

CWA staff initially reviewed 57 sites where water could be stored, either above ground or below ground, for emergency use. Criteria such as location, elevation and volume, and environmental, operational and financial yardsticks were used to narrow the number of potential sites. The CWA Board of Directors chose a site in north county known as the Olivenhain/Hodges & San Vicente System to locate the project. The completed project will include a new dam and reservoir, the re-operation of Lake Hodges, the expansion of the San Vicente Reservoir, and additional pipelines and pump stations. The goal is to expand the county's emergency storage by over 90,000 acre feet and meet the county's projected emergency storage needs through the year 2030.

As part of its Water Resources Plan, CWA is investigating the possibility of water transfers. One transfer involves the purchase by CWA of water conserved in the Imperial Valley. CWA seeks to buy up to 400,000 acre feet of water per year from the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) at a price comparable to that of other reliable supplies. The water would be the result of conservation by IID and Imperial Valley farmers, and could assure Southern California a reliable source of water for up to 30 years by keeping the Colorado River Aqueduct full.