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SERVICE AREA & POPULATION:
The Water Authority serves Carlsbad, Fallbrook, Helix, Lakeside,
Olivenhain, Otay, Padre Dam, Rainbow, Ramona, Rincon del Diablo,
San Dieguito, Santa Fe, South Bay, Vallecitos, Valley Center,
Vista, and Yuima water districts; Camp Pendleton Marine Corps
Base; and the cities of Del Mar, Escondido, National City, Oceanside,
Poway, and San Diego. Coronado and Imperial Beach are not within
the Water Authority’s service Area.
Population: 3.1 million
SPECIAL FEATURES OF MEMBER AGENCY
The San Diego County Water Authority is executing a comprehensive water supply diversification strategy to enhance the region's water supply reliability. This strategy includes investments in major water infrastructure and in developing new local and imported water supplies. The Water Authority's Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is nearly 20 years old and has a value of $3.8 billion. Through this program, the Water Authority is building facilities to store, treat, and transport water within San Diego County.
Included in the CIP is the $1.5 billion Emergency Storage Project (ESP), a system of dams, reservoirs, interconnected pipelines and pumping stations designed to make water available to the San Diego region in the event of an interruption in imported water deliveries. The ESP is projected to meet the county’s emergency needs through 2030 and will add 90,100 acre-feet of reservoir capacity for emergency use within the county.
The ESP includes:
- The 318-foot-high Olivenhain Dam and 24,000-acre-foot reservoir (completed
in 2003)
- A pipeline connecting the new Olivenhain Reservoir to the
Water Authority’s Second Aqueduct (completed in 2002)
- A pipeline connecting the new Olivenhain Reservoir with Lake
Hodges (under construction)
- A pipeline connecting San Vicente Reservoir to the Water
Authority’s Second Aqueduct (completed in 2011)
- Raising San Vicente Dam by 117
feet to provide additional water storage (under construction)
- Five new pump stations
- Related facilities
The
San Vicente Dam Raise Project will provide 100,000 acre-feet of additional carryover for the San Diego region.
Supply Diversification
The QSA, signed in October 2003 by the Coachella Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District, and MWD, assures California up to 75 years of stability in its Colorado River water supplies.
The Water Authority entered into a long-term water conservation and transfer agreement with the Imperial Irrigation District. Under the agreement, the Water Authority will purchase up to 200,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water annually from IID for up to 75 years. San Diego County receives the water through a water exchange agreement with MWD.
Lining portions of the Coachella and All-American canals with concrete is also a critical element of the QSA. Lining sections of the earthen canals conserves water lost due to seepage; provides a new long-term and highly reliable supply of water; and reduces California’s overdependence on the Colorado River. The Water Authority will receive about 80,000 acre-feet of water annually for 110 years from the canal lining projects. As part of a water rights settlement, several Indian bands along the San Luis River in northeastern San Diego County will receive an additional 16,000 acre-feet of water per year from the lining projects.
The Water Authority also is working on its own and in conjunction with its 24 member agencies to develop local water supplies, such as seawater desalination, recycled water, and groundwater recovery.
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