SAWPA is a Joint Powers Authority, classified as a Special District under State of California law. There are five agencies that make us SAWPA- the five largest water agencies in the Santa Ana River Watershed. Click on the map to visit their individual web sites; brief descriptions of each agency are provided below.

The Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) headquarters is located in Perris, CA and serves the eastern portion of the watershed in Riverside County, as well as portions of the Santa Margarita Watershed, south of the Santa Ana.

In the face of declining groundwater levels and continuing droughts, Eastern Municipal Water District was formed in 1950 to secure additional water for a lightly populated area of western Riverside County.  EMWD joined the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California a year later to augment its local supplies with recently available imported water.  The District also provides sewer service throughout its area.

EMWD has a 555-square mile service area that hosts a population of about 395,000.  Major communities include Moreno Valley, Hemet, San Jacinto, Perris, Sun City, Menifee, Winchester, Temecula, Murrieta and Murrieta Hot Springs.  In addition to its some 73,000 retail customers, EMWD wholesales water through seven local water agencies.

Without easy access to an ocean outfall for effluent, EMWD developed into one of the state’s largest reclaimed water providers, having a combined capacity from five sewage treatment plants of more than 43 million gallons a day.  Reclaimed water has become extremely important in managing local water resources and helps to extend the economic viability of agriculture, the region’s largest industry.  In recent years, reclaimed water has become increasingly accepted for irrigation and landscaping.

EMWD boasts an aggressive program of developing local groundwater resources, including desalination, water harvesting, and additional storage of surplus imported and reclaimed water.

The Diamond Valley Reservoir, Southern California’s largest reservoir, is the newest reservoir in Southern California, and is located within EMWD's service area. The reservoir was constructed by the Metropolitan Water District near Hemet, California to serve as supply for the State Water Project and the Colorado River Aqueduct.

The Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) headquarters is located in Fontana, CA and serves the rapidly growing portions of the western watershed in San Bernardino County.

The Chino Basin Municipal Water District (CBMWD) was formed in 1950, at which time the 92-square mile agency served approximately 80,000 people.  Residents created the District to bring supplemental water to the semi-arid southwestern section of San Bernardino County.

The CBMWD was renamed IEUA in 1998. In 2002,  serves 570,000 people and covers 242-square miles in the areas of Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland and the Chino Agricultural Preserve.  The District’s five major responsibilities are:  wastewater treatment and disposal; supplemental water supply; groundwater management; industrial waste or non-reclaimable waste disposal; and water conservation and reclamation.

Under the Regional Sewage Service Program, the District operates three domestic wastewater treatment plants.  The program enables local communities to take advantage of shared facilities and to further reduce costs by combining staffs and operations.  Two additional wastewater reclamation facilities will be on-line in the next 10 years to accommodate the growth of the area’s industrial and residential communities, as well as to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

In 1978, the court appointed the District’s Board of Directors as Watermaster of the Chino Groundwater Basin.  As Watermaster, the board has discretionary power to develop a management program to protect the quality and quantity of the basin’s groundwater.  An average of 70 percent of the district’s water is obtained locally from the groundwater basin; 30 percent is purchased from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  IEUA has two representatives on Metropolitan’s 51-member board of directors.

The Orange County Water District (OCWD) headquarters is located in Fountain Valley, CA, and serves most of the Orange County portion of the watershed.

Orange County Water District (OCWD) was formed in 1933 by a special act of the California State Legislature to protect Orange County’s rights to water in the Santa Ana River and to manage this important groundwater basin. Since 1933, OCWD has replenished and maintained the groundwater basin at safe levels while more than doubling the basin’s annual yield. This important source provides local groundwater producers with a reliable supply of high-quality water. Orange County Water District (OCWD) was formed in 1933 by a special act of the California Legislature. Created to protect Orange County’s rights to Santa Ana River water, OCWD’s primary responsibility is managing the vast groundwater basin under north and central Orange County.

Orange County’s groundwater basin supplies water to more than 20 cities and water agencies, serving more than 2.2 million Orange County residents. OCWD primarily recharges the basin with water from the Santa Ana River and to a lesser extent with imported water purchased from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Water enters the groundwater basin via settling or percolation ponds in the cities of Anaheim and Orange.

OCWD currently holds rights to all Santa Ana River flows reaching Prado Dam. Behind Prado Dam (constructed and owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood prevention), OCWD owns 2,400 acres in Riverside County, which OCWD uses for water conservation, water quality improvement and environmental enhancement.

OCWD monitors the groundwater taken out each year to ensure that the basin is not overdrawn;refills the basin; and carries out an assessment program to pay for operating expenses and the cost of imported replenishment water. The groundwater basin holds millions of acre-feet of water, of which about 1.25 to 1.5 million acre-feet is usable (an acre-foot satisfies the needs of two families for one year). The groundwater basin provides 75 percent of all water used within the District.
 

The San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District (SBVMWD) headquarters is located in the city of San Bernardino and serves most of the northern and eastern reaches of the watershed in San Bernardino County.

SBVMWD was formed in 1954 to plan long-range water supply for the San Bernardino Valley. It imports water into its service area through participation in the California State Water Project and manages groundwater storage within its boundaries. It was incorporated under the Municipal Water District Act of 1911 (California Water Code Section 7100 et seq., as amended). Its enabling act includes a broad range of powers to provide water, as well as wastewater, stormwater disposal, recreation, and fire protection services.

SBVMWD covers about 325 square miles in southwestern San Bernardino County, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, and has a population of about 600,000. It spans the eastern two-thirds of the San Bernardino Valley, the Crafton Hills, and a portion of the Yucaipa Valley, and includes the cities and communities of San Bernardino, Colton, Loma Linda, Redlands, Rialto, Bloomington, Highland, Grand Terrace, and Yucaipa.

The Western Municipal Water District (WMWD) headquarters is located in Riverside, CA and serves the western Riverside County portion of the watershed, as well as portions of the Santa Margarita Watershed, south of the Santa Ana.

Western Municipal Water District of Riverside County was formed in 1954 to bring supplemental water to growing western Riverside County.

Western’s district consists of a 510-square mile area of western Riverside County, with a population of nearly one-half million people.  Western is in the heart of the Santa Ana Basin and within its district lies the communities of Jurupa, Rubidoux, Riverside, Norco, Corona, Elsinore Valley, and Rancho California.  A member agency of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Western serves imported water directly to more than 10,000 retail customers who are located in the unincorporated and non-water bearing areas around Lake Mathews and portions of the city of Riverside.  The District also serves ten wholesale customers with Colorado River and State Water Project water.

In addition to its retail water service, the District has committed to retail sewer service to 2600 customers in the Lake Hill/Home Gardens area.

Western’s general manager is a court-appointed Watermaster responsible for reporting compliance with water quality and quantity provisions of court orders regarding water rights issues in the Santa Ana River watershed.

Copyright: Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, 2002
Last modified 07/23/2004