The other source of Metropolitan’s imported water is the Colorado River, which has endured several years of drought. Keeping the water flowing has demanded creative solutions. Metropolitan implemented two agricultural to urban water
transfers to boost its supply in 2006. Additionally, the district participated in a breakthrough seven-state agreement to better manage the Colorado River that recognized California’s senior water right position during times of shortage. The
agreement also allows Metropolitan to store water in Lake Mead that has been saved through conservation programs such as MWD’s mutually beneficial land management and fallowing program with the Palo Verde Irrigation District.
Metropolitan also protected the river’s water quality by working with other agencies to successfully reduce perchlorate contamination and salinity on the Colorado, as well as obtaining a federal commitment to move uranium mine tailings near Moab, Utah that had threatened the quality of Colorado River water and potentially, public health.

Through eight decades of delivering water to Southern California, Metropolitan Water District has withstood a variety of forces that could threaten a reliable water supply. From its inception in the 1930s, when a job building the Colorado River Aqueduct was a welcomed $5-a-day-blessing for workers caught in the depth of the Great Depression, to today’s changing climate, growing population and regulatory environment, the district grows and adapts to meet the
changing needs of the region.

Metropolitan also embarked on a major expansion to parts of the system serving Riverside and San Diego counties, some of California’s (and the nation’s) fastest growing regions. To meet the increasing residential and business water needs, the district is boosting the capacity of its Robert A. Skinner Water Treatment Plant to provide operational flexibility.

In conjunction with that work, construction began on the San Diego Pipeline No. 6, a raw water line that will eventually run from the Skinner plant near Temecula to north San Diego County. The first phase of that project, within the Temecula area, was completed in 2005-06. Work also continued on the Inland Feeder, a 19-foot diameter tunnel that will enable Metropolitan to deliver State Water Project supplies to Diamond Valley Lake, the district’s 810,000 acre-foot
reservoir built to provide storage during the wet season and a six-month supply of water in case of emergencies such as earthquakes.

Public health and improved system reliability were the catalysts for an $856 million program of upgrades planned for each of Metropolitan’s five water treatment plants. The most notable upgrade is conversion from chlorine to ozone as a primary disinfectant, which is a more effective and robust treatment process than just chlorine. This new treatment process will enable Metropolitan to meet
increasingly stringent water regulations, while also improving the water’s taste and smell.

Due to abundant snow and rain in Northern California, Metropolitan was able to use water from the State Water Project to build Southern California’s local water reliability by storing water in groundwater basins and local reservoirs as a
buffer against future dry periods. Water was provided at reduced rates to member agencies to help offset the cost of replenishing their groundwater basins.

Metropolitan’s “conserve and store” strategy has also allowed reservoirs at Lake Castaic and Diamond Valley Lake to be kept at high levels, even as MWD builds up reserves outside its service area.

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