General Plan - Moreno Valley

CHAPTER 7 - CONSERVATIONprimary purveyor of water in Moreno Valleysince the 1950’s is Eastern Municipal WaterDistrict (EMWD). EMWD, incorporated in1950, became a member of the MetropolitanWater District in 1951. The original districtboundary encompassed most of the SanJacinto Valley and Perris Valley and a smallportion of Moreno Valley. Additional territoryin Moreno Valley was annexed in 1953. Atthat time the primary water source was theColorado River. The water was importedthough the Metropolitan Water District’sColorado River Aqueduct.EMWD completed a major water supply linealong Perris Boulevard in 1954 throughwhich water became available in 1955. Theexisting water companies were responsiblefor connecting to the main water supplysystem, including the Edgemont GardensMutual Water Company and the SunnymeadMutual Water Company.Up until the time that EMWD providedimported water, the local mutual watercompanies drew their water from local wells.Eventually, two of the mutual watercompanies turned over their operations toEMWD; Sunnymead Mutual Water Companydid so in 1990; Edgemont Gardens (MorenoValley) Mutual Water Company in 1997.Water tankThe State Water Project brought additionalimported water to Moreno Valley andEMWD’s service area. It brought water fromthe rivers of northern California through aMORENO VALLEY GENERAL PLANseries of aqueducts, pipelines and reservoirs,including Lake Perris. Lake Perris wascompleted in 1973. An undergroundsegment of the aqueduct runs from thenorthwest corner of Moreno Valley to LakePerris. Water from Lake Perris is pumped tothe Mills Filtration Plant in the City ofRiverside before it is distributed to MorenoValley customers.Water from the State Water Project wasneeded to supplement water supplies fromthe Colorado River. The water supplyavailable to California from the ColoradoRiver will diminish as Arizona uses its legallyestablished allocation of water. In addition,the quality of untreated water from theColorado River is lower than the quality ofState Water Project water.The Metropolitan Water District constructedanother major reservoir, the Diamond ValleyLake, in the Domenigoni Valley area south ofHemet. The reservoir holds 800,000 acrefeetof water. The water in Diamond ValleyLake improves the reliability of the watersupply. It stores water that is availableduring wet years for use during periods ofdrought.7.5.2 Issues and OpportunitiesEven with the development of the DiamondValley Reservoir, water supply, storage andconservation will be needed to meet thelong-term water demands of region. EMWDhas several such programs in place. Forexample, prior to issuance of landscapeirrigation meters, new public and privatedevelopments must install landscaping andirrigation systems that operate at high levelsof water use efficiency. In addition,increasing amounts of water reclaimed fromsewage treatment plants is being used forlandscape irrigation and agriculture. EMWDis also recharging groundwater basins anddesalinating saline groundwater to protectand increase the supply of water.Page 7-8 July 11, 2006