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USBR Grants-water efficiency-WaterSMART grants

Over $2.7 Million in Federal Grants Awarded to San Diego Water Agencies

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The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded three San Diego County water agencies a total of $2,788,500 in 2021 WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Grants. A total of $42.4 million in grants was given to 55 projects across 13 states to improve water reliability and efficiency, conserving more 98,000 acre-feet of water per year.

“The Water Authority and its member agencies have been leaders in helping customers improve water efficiency, which ultimately helps our communities become more resilient to both dry years and the large-scale impacts of climate change,” said Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher. “This grant money is added value for our region as we continue to do our part for people and the planet.”

Projects awarded grants in San Diego County

  • The City of Oceanside’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Pipeline Improvement Project (Phase III) — $2,000,000 grant. The project includes upgrades to 11,519 existing primarily residential water meters to smart meters connected to the city’s customer feedback portal. Approximately 62 broken and leaking pipe segments will also be replaced. Website: www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/gov/water/watersmart/default.asp
  • Olivenhain Municipal Water District Advanced Metering Infrastructure Water Use Efficiency Project — $500,000 grant. The project will expand advanced metering infrastructure with the installation of 4,181 meter transmitting units on existing AMI-capable meters. The meters will be integrated with the district’s customer engagement portal to provide customers near real-time water-use data. Website: www.olivenhain.com/new-meter-reading-technology
  • San Diego County Water Authority WaterSmart Contractor Incentive Program — $288,500 grant. The project will expand an existing rebate program for irrigation devices, including smart irrigation controllers and high-efficiency nozzles. The expanded program will encourage large landscape and commercial customers to install an estimated 8,000 stations for smart irrigation controllers, 330 irrigation controllers, 18,000 high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles, 75 flow sensors, and 30,000 square feet of drip irrigated landscaping. Website: www.sdwatersmartcip.com/

The Bureau of Reclamation grants support the new Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad to increase resilience to climate change impacts. The agency’s WaterSMART program works cooperatively with states, tribes, and local entities to plan and implement actions that increase water supply reliability through investments to modernize existing infrastructure and attention to local water conflicts.

Desalination plant-credit ratings-water supply

Credit Agencies Affirm Water Authority’s Strong Ratings Despite Headwinds

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All three major rating agencies – S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch – have affirmed the San Diego County Water Authority’s strong credit ratings, which will help the Water Authority optimize its debt portfolio and minimize the cost of financing important water reliability projects.

The reports cited the Water Authority’s strategic management, its conservative approach to water sales projections, and the benefits of the Water Authority’s rate case litigation that recently resulted in $44.4 million being refunded to local retail water agencies – among many other factors.

Significant challenges

However, rating agencies also noted significant challenges ahead, including efforts by Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District to “detach” from the Water Authority – a move that could negatively impact ratepayers across San Diego County. If the two North County agencies leave per their plans, Water Authority analysis shows that the other 22 member agencies will have to pay $16 million to $46 million more per year to cover the cost of the departing agencies.

Moody’s said detachment could lead to a credit downgrade, which would increase borrowing costs for critical water reliability projects. S&P Global called detachment uncertainty “an additional credit stressor” – “especially if an approved detachment sets a precedent if members can easily detach from the authority.” S&P added that, “this would be further exacerbated if the two members are not required to pay for their portion of the associated debt and infrastructure costs that the authority has undertaken to provide reliable water sources.”

Solid financial position

Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl said, “The Water Authority maintains a solid financial position even in these difficult times, and the credit ratings reflect that. But the challenges are real as well, and they should unify the region to ensure that we continue to benefit from the safe, reliable water supplies we’ve invested in together for the past 30 years.”

In affirming their credit ratings, the services cited the Water Authority’s strong financial leadership, including prudent strategies to manage issues related to COVID-19, its success diversifying water supply sources, its commitment to infrastructure maintenance, and its financial reserves for managing contingencies, among other factors.

  • Fitch Ratings affirmed its AA+ rating and gave a stable outlook on March 15. Fitch noted the Water Authority’s “operating costs are low”  and credited the Water Authority for “significant investments in supply diversification (that) have allowed SDCWA to continue to meet water demands in its service area.” Fitch also accounted for the Water Authority’s current hiring freeze, spending cuts and deferral of $30 million in planned capital spending to proactively manage finances during the pandemic.
  • Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its Aa2 rating and stable outlook March 14. Moody’s said, “the stable outlook reflects our expectation that the Authority’s satisfactory operating performance will continue, supported by strong management practices in the face of challenges associated with variable water supplies, rising costs, and the coronavirus pandemic.” Moody’s added: “Liquidity, including a rate stabilization fund, remains sound serving to insulate the Authority from risks associated with variable water supplies, including California’s (Aa2 stable) current drought conditions, as well as unanticipated events such as the coronavirus pandemic.”
  • S&P affirmed its AAA rating on March 17 and issued a negative outlook based on “heightened business risks associated with potential projected declines in water sales.” On the plus side, S&P cited the Water Authority’s demonstrated ability to navigate highly variable demands and weather cycles. The agency also said, “management is taking important steps” to balance fixed and variable costs, and it praised the Water Authority’s “robust infrastructure maintenance and operational policies.”

Risks include detachment

All three agencies addressed risks, such as additional local supplies that reduce Water Authority sales and member agency detachment. As proposed by Fallbrook and Rainbow, the detachments would allow those agencies to avoid paying for water supplies and infrastructure that have been developed in collaboration with those agencies and are currently being used by those agencies to meet their customers’ needs. Abandoning those cost obligations would force other ratepayers countywide to cover their portion of the bills already incurred for decades of investments in supply reliability.

In May 2020, the Water Authority’s Board of Directors voted to oppose detachment unless four conditions can be met related to protecting Fallbrook and Rainbow ratepayers, avoiding negative impacts for other member agencies, protecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta, and maintaining the Water Authority’s voting rights at MWD.

The issue is under review by the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission, known as LAFCO. The LAFCO process, which is designed to provide for an impartial analysis of these issues, will allow the Water Authority and all other affected parties to determine if these conditions are satisfied. If not, the Water Authority will oppose detachment.

For more information about the Water Authority’s finances go to: www.sdcwa.org/finance-investor-relations. Information about detachment is at https://www.sdcwa.org/member-agencies/lafco-reorganization/.

Naturalists Paige DeCino (left) and Karen Merrill survey South Lake Reservoir. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Volunteers Offer Birds Eye View at South Lake Reservoir

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For decades, it was a source of drinking water for the San Marcos area. Today, the South Lake Reservoir has new life as a local wildlife habitat.

South Lake was built with an earthen dam and provided drinking water to the Lake San Marcos area, most of downtown San Marcos, and the Coronado Hills area. Updates to potable water treatment had detrimental effects on the lake ecology, so the Vallecitos Water District stopped using the lake as a drinking water source in 1984, although it remained an emergency water supply for another decade.

South Lake Reservoir is home to freshwater fish and abundant aquatic plant life, waterfowl, quail, doves, deer, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, bobcats, and coyotes. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

South Lake Reservoir is home to freshwater fish and abundant aquatic plant life, waterfowl, quail, doves, deer, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, bobcats, and coyotes. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Now, South Lake provides a thriving ecosystem within and around the facility. The lake is home to freshwater fish and abundant aquatic plant life. Waterfowl such as coots, gallinules, grebes, various species of ducks, and cormorants frequent the lake throughout the year. The property is filled with quail, doves, deer, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, bobcats, and coyotes.

Volunteers help identify habitat and wildlife at South Lake

Vallecitos Water District staff recently surveyed the area to look for animal tracks and other signs of wildlife, and to catalog plant and animal species.

Certified California naturalists Paige DeCino and Karen Merrill from Preserve Calavera assisted Vallecitos public information representative Alicia Yerman, who is also a certified naturalist. The team spent three days exploring the lake and the 1.4-mile trail. Merrill and DeCino host the volunteer UC Naturalist certification program. The program is currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Wildlife cameras at South Lake Reservoir captured this visiting bobcat at night. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Wildlife cameras at South Lake Reservoir captured this visiting bobcat at night. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Two wildlife cameras were set up at South Lake to capture wildlife activity over a two-week period. Lisa Urabe, a University of California trained Master Gardener and Vallecitos public information representative, asked the Buena Vista Audubon Society to conduct a bird survey. The BVAS volunteers identified 36 species in mid-February and created a YouTube video showcasing some of the species.

BVAS volunteers were enthusiastic about surveying the birds in an area set aside as wildlife habitat. With increased habitat fragmentation, BVAS hopes the area will remain primarily an area for wildlife.

Buena Vista Audubon Society volunteers including Karen Merrill andd Paig DeCino identified 36 species in mid-February and created a YouTube video showcasing some of the species seen. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Buena Vista Audubon Society volunteers including Karen Merrill andd Paige DeCino identified 36 species in mid-February and created a YouTube video showing some of species. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

“What you have at South Lake is a gem of the healthy functioning habitat— flora, fauna, and it is just a complete picture of what we hope our open spaces and natural lands to be,” said Karen Merrill. “It is something we should treasure now and into the future. It is one of a kind here on coastal San Diego County.”

Vallecitos employees take pride in the lake and its surrounding ecosystem and strive to keep the habitat intact for generations to come.

Vallecitos Water District staff including maintenance operator Marcelino Sanchez help maintain the lake and habitat. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Vallecitos Water District staff, including water distribution operator Marcelino Sanchez, help maintain the lake and habitat. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Firefighting helicopters can pull water from the lake

In addition to its value as local wildlife habitat, South Lake is available for fire suppression. Firefighting helicopters can pull water from the lake during wildfire events. The lake may be used as part of the City of San Marcos’ park system in the future.

Water quality within South Lake is monitored daily by water distribution operators, and the condition of the dam’s integrity is recorded weekly. Recently, an environmentally-sound ultrasonic technology made by LG Sonic was placed on the lake to reduce algae blooms and to improve water quality.

The City of San Diego's aggressive maintenance program has resulted in fewer water main breaks in 2020. Photo: City of San Diego

Water Main Breaks Decline in San Diego for Fourth Year in a Row

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Increased maintenance efforts by the City of San Diego of its water system infrastructure is paying off for ratepayers. For the fourth year in a row, the number of water main breaks has decreased in the City of San Diego. Thirty-three water main breaks were reported in 2020, the lowest total in more than 15 years.

The City credits its aggressive multi-year program to replace aging pipelines for bringing the numbers far below the peak of 131 breaks in 2010.

“The City’s Public Utilities Department has worked very hard to improve the reliability of our water system infrastructure,” said Shauna Lorance, director of public utilities. “Our citizens benefit greatly from fewer main breaks because it means less water loss and lower emergency repair costs.”

Fifty-five miles of pipeline replaced in next four years

Crews replace old cast iron pipe with new PVC pipe along Park Boulevard. Photo: City of San Diego

Crews replace old cast iron pipe with new PVC pipe along Park Boulevard. Photo: City of San Diego

San Diego’s continuing program to replace old cast iron water mains has played a major part in the decrease in breaks. Some cast-iron pipes had been in service for more than a century. Since 2013, the city has replaced approximately 180 miles of water pipelines. By 2025, the last 55 miles of cast iron water mains are scheduled to be replaced with water mains made of durable polyvinyl chloride.

Water infrastructure maintenance programs also deliver a benefit to our region’s overall economy. According to the Economic Policy Institute, $188.4 billion spent on water infrastructure investments over five years would yield $265 billion in economic activity and create 1.9 million jobs.

“Improving and maintaining our water infrastructure is an important part of our commitment to serving our customers,” said Lorance. “We will continue to provide reliable water services our customers deserve.”

City of San Diego public utilities crew members replace an aging cast iron water pipe at 5th and Robinson in Hillcrest. Photo: City of San Diego water main breaks

City of San Diego public utilities crew members replace an aging cast iron water pipe at 5th and Robinson in Hillcrest. Photo: City of San Diego

City of San Diego public utilities crews routinely oversee preventative maintenance work to help determine potential leaks and breaks before they occur. Private contractors have completed the bulk of the pipeline replacement projects under the direction of the City’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department.

Helix Water District-Demonstration Landscape-WaterSmart

Helix Water District Demonstration Landscape Blossoms

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The plants are thriving at Helix Water District’s demonstration landscape just eight months after the project was completed. The WaterSmart plants at the District’s administration office in La Mesa beautify the neighorhood while inspiring people to install sustainable, WaterSmart landscaping.

“Everything is growing in beautifully,” said Helix Water District General Manager Carlos Lugo. “We started with smaller plants to reduce costs and planned for growth. We’re happy to share this resource with our customers and community.”

Demonstration landscape includes water-wise gardens

The demonstration landscape includes three unique water-wise gardens on the streets around the building, including a Mediterranean garden on University Avenue, a desert landscape on Lee Avenue and a California native landscape along the building’s main entrance on Quince Street. Each garden started with smaller plants of varying colors, flowers and textures.

Helix Water District-Landscape-WaterSmart-Lee Ave

Desert landscape on Lee Avenue at Helix Water District in La Mesa. Photo: Helix Water District

“The grasses in our native garden are filling in the mulched areas, creating a soft meadow-like appearance,” said Lugo. “We are also seeing the canopies of the Palo Verde trees expanding, and underneath, the succulents and agaves are blanketing the hillside, filling the landscape with color and texture.”

Helix Water District-Landscape-WaterSmart-Grasses

Grasses create a meadow-like appearance in some of the Helix Water District demonstration landscape gardens. Photo: Helix Water District

Plants provide wildlife habitat

The plants in all three of the gardens are adapted to San Diego’s climate and need half to a fifth of the water that a traditional lawn needs. In addition to requiring less water, WaterSmart landscapes also require less maintenance and provide habitat for local wildlife like honeybees, birds and butterflies.

In each garden, plant markers provide the name of each plant and a QR code, which when scanned with a smartphone, provide each plant’s name, sun and water needs, mature size and photo.

Customers can also use the district’s interactive webpage to make a list of their favorite plants and download each garden’s design plan. Information on efficient irrigation and rebate programs is also available.

Helix Water District-Landscape-WaterSmart

Native, water-wise plants thrive on Quince Street in one of the Helix Water District gardens. Photo: Helix Water District

The project was completed in June 2020 and partially funded through a grant from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Helix Water District provides water treatment and distribution for 277,000 people in the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove, the community of Spring Valley and areas of Lakeside – east of downtown San Diego. Helix is also a founding member of The Water Conservation Garden, a nearly six-acre water-wise demonstration garden in El Cajon.

Regular valve maintenance prevents unanticipated shutdowns of water service to Vallecitos Water District customers. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Vallecitos Water District Valve Maintenance Program Ensures Reliable Service

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Just as owners perform routine maintenance to keep their cars running smoothly, water systems need regular maintenance to provide reliable service. The Vallecitos Water District’s Valve Maintenance Program ensures these vital components in its water distribution remain in good working condition throughout the District. Valves left without proper maintenance for long periods can become a serious problem, especially in an emergency water shutdown.

VWD’s Construction Department manages the program. Two-person teams use maps to familiarize themselves with the location of the 4,959 valves in the system, not including fire hydrants and fire services. Critical valves serve hospitals and businesses. Between 300 and 500 valves are serviced monthly, following American Water Works Association standards.

Small but vital parts monitored

Construction worker Justin Shutt explains valves are isolation and shutoff point for water mains along streets.

“If we have a main break, where a main ruptures, we need to be able to isolate those certain sections without taking too many people out of water” by shutting the valves, said Shutt.

Valve Maintenance Technician John Truppa runs the valve maintenance program. He trains crew members how to use the valve exerciser machine, read maps properly, and respond to customer calls. Customer service is a priority. When a customer reports a water line leak in their home, the valve maintenance crew helps by shutting off the water at the meter.

The Vallecitos Water District’s geographic information system provides a written record of valve location, condition, maintenance, and inspection records for each valve serviced. Reliable recordkeeping is vital to ensure all valves receive regular maintenance and are replaced before coming to the end of their service life to reduce the percentage of failures and inoperable valves. The District monitors valve life span to replace them prior to failure. Areas prone to water main breaks and valves on mains serving large groups of customers get added attention.

Taking turns

Between 300 and 500 valves are serviced monthly by two person teams. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Between 300 and 500 valves are serviced monthly by two-person teams. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Valve maintenance involves performing a prescribed number of turns to “exercise” or test the valve. Turns are calculated in part by the size of the main. Larger transmission water mains require more valve turns, both up and down. Turning speed is also important. If valves are closed too quickly, it creates “water hammer,” or sudden pressure forcing water down the line, potentially triggering water main breaks. You may have heard a water hammer in your house when you shut off a household valve suddenly.

Ounce of prevention

The District's geographic information system (GIS) provides a written record of valve location, condition, maintenance, and inspection records for each valve serviced. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

The Vallecitos Water District’s geographic information system provides a written record of valve location, condition, maintenance, and inspection records for each valve serviced. Photo: Vallecitos Water District

Regular valve maintenance prevents unanticipated shutdowns of water service to Vallecitos customers.

“We want to take as few people out of water at a time as we possibly can,” said Shutt. “We keep up on the upgrades and make sure the valves are working the way they’re supposed to.”

The proactive approach by the Vallecitos Water District ensures the reliable delivery of quality water to its customers while ensuring all systems are working properly.

Crews work on First Aqueduct Rehabilitation.

Major Rehabilitation of First Aqueduct Complete

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The San Diego County Water Authority recently completed a major rehabilitation project on the historic First Aqueduct in North San Diego County. The project renovated and replaced dozens of structures on two large-diameter pipelines, including the historic Pipeline 1. Pipeline 1 delivered the first imported water to the San Diego region in 1947 and remains a vital part of the regional water delivery system. The construction contract for the project was worth approximately $30 million.

Coordination with member agencies key to success

Over the past two years, four coordinated shutdowns in collaboration with member agencies and communities in North San Diego County ensured minimum impact to nearby neighborhoods and water users.

“The First Aqueduct delivered imported water to our region for the first time more than 70 years ago, and it remains critical to water supply reliability for our region to this day,” said Gary Croucher, chair of the Water Authority Board of Directors. “Through coordination throughout the Water Authority and collaboration with our member agencies, we completed this extraordinarily complex project to ensure these pipelines operate for generations to come.”

The project was completed on January 12 and will be presented to the Water Authority’s Board of Directors at their March meeting.

Proactive asset management program maintains reliable water supplies

The timely rehabilitation of the First Aqueduct is part of the Water Authority’s proactive asset management program. A key element of providing safe and reliable water supplies is continually assessing the agency’s 310 miles of large-diameter pipeline and making the upgrades necessary to continue serving the region. That work is funded through water bills paid by residents and businesses across the county to sustain the region’s $245 billion economy and quality of life.

The First Aqueduct project began in early 2019 and was one of the most complicated pipeline retrofits in the Water Authority’s history. The upgrades included replacing 14,500 linear feet of lining on the steel pipe sections of Pipeline 1, removing 16 associated structures and retrofitting 46 structures. All this work was accomplished while ensuring regional water service remained safe and reliable. In addition, redundant connections to six flow control facilities were added between the two pipelines to improve the aqueduct’s operational flexibility.

Collaboration between departments increased efficiency

The Water Authority’s Engineering Department provided construction management and inspection for the retrofit. Before the pipeline was returned to service, secondary tie-in connections to flow control facilities were added and crews removed bulkheads that were used to isolate pipeline sections during the rehabilitation work. Once the work was completed, staff inspected all work areas in the pipeline to ensure they were clear of construction debris.

After the bulkheads were removed, the Operations and Maintenance team disinfected the highly impacted work areas and then refilled the aqueduct to prepare for a second disinfection of both pipelines with chlorine. Water samples at locations throughout the aqueduct were collected and analyzed to ensure the system was safe to return to service. Once all the samples passed analysis, all flow control facilities were placed back in service and the aqueduct was returned to normal operations.

San Diego County Water Authority-Building at night-MWD

Water Authority Prevails in Rate Litigation

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The San Francisco Superior Court has ruled the San Diego County Water Authority is the prevailing party in the agency’s first two lawsuits to be heard challenging rates and charges set by the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The order entitles the Water Authority to recover its attorneys’ fees and costs in those cases, in addition to a $44 million damage and interest award made earlier.

“San Diego prevailed, and the judgment not only benefits its own ratepayers but all of the nearly 19 million people in Metropolitan’s service area because enforcing cost-of-service principles serves the interests of all ratepayers,” said Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo in her Jan. 13 order, which can be appealed. The exact amount of recoverable fees will be decided later.

In light of the order, Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher reiterated the Water Authority Board’s longstanding desire to avoid litigation and find common ground with other MWD member agencies. “This ruling only enhances our determination to find an equitable resolution that will not only conclude the few issues that remain pending in court, but also help avoid future litigation as new rates and charges are being considered for 2023 and subsequent years,” he said.

Protecting water ratepayers

The Water Authority filed lawsuits between 2010 and 2018 challenging water rates and charges as they were set and imposed by MWD on San Diego County agencies and their ratepayers. After a favorable court ruling invalidating MWD’s Water Stewardship Rate on the Exchange Agreement, the Water Authority worked with MWD to try to resolve the remaining issues. The MWD Board promised to fund almost $500 million in local water supply projects in San Diego County and the Water Authority agreed to dismiss claims against MWD’s Water Stewardship Rate on supply, which is used to fund local projects under the MWD program.

“It is deeply gratifying that the court not only validated our claims but acknowledged the importance of protecting ratepayers by water agencies following the law,” Croucher said. “This week’s order makes it clear once and for all that our desire to protect San Diego ratepayers was never intended to harm MWD, its other member agencies or the ratepayers they serve. Rather, the litigation was necessary to address serious flaws in MWD’s rates that will, as the court said, ultimately benefit not only San Diego County ratepayers, but all Southern Californians.”

Rate litigation

The Water Authority’s first two rate cases – covering 2011 to 2014 rates – resulted in the court ordering an increase in the Water Authority’s preferential right to MWD water by as much as 100,000 acre-feet a year, equivalent to about twice the annual production of the $1 billion Carlsbad Desalination Project. MWD has already complied with this ruling and adjusted its records accordingly.

The court also determined that MWD must pay the Water Authority damages for illegal charges imposed on delivery of the Water Authority’s water under the Exchange Agreement. A Superior Court judge in August 2020 awarded the Water Authority $44,373,872.29 covering rates paid by San Diego County ratepayers during 2011-2014.

Water Stewardship Rate charges

San Diego County ratepayers have also avoided paying more than $45 million from 2018-2020 after MWD suspended its invalid Water Stewardship Rate charges on the Exchange Agreement. The improper charges would have cost local residents more than $500 million over the term of the Exchange Agreement. Currently, MWD owns the only pipeline that can deliver the Water Authority’s independent supply of Colorado River water to San Diego County and it sets the unregulated water rates which govern and control the delivery of water to San Diego County.

In addition, the court ruled that MWD had illegally barred the Water Authority from receiving money from MWD’s local water supply program, even though the Water Authority was still being forced to pay for it. MWD lifted the ban in response to the court’s order, and ultimately promised the nearly $500 million for water supply projects in San Diego County including the City of San Diego’s Pure Water North City Project Phase 1, East County Advanced Water Purification Project, Escondido Membrane Filtration Reverse Osmosis Facility and Fallbrook Groundwater Desalter Project.

Mission Trails FRS II water project construction

FRS II: Mission Trails Water Project Takes Shape

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When looking from the right vantage point towards Mission Trails Regional Park, a brown hill can be seen. This is the San Diego County Water Authority’s Mission Trails Flow Regulatory Structure II Project, or FRS II, under construction. Once complete, the dirt hill will be leveled to its previous contours and revegetated with native plants – many seeded from plants within the park itself.

An underground reservoir is being constructed within the park to improve the Water Authority’s untreated water system in the northwest area of the park. The upgrade will increase reliable water delivery to treatment plants that serve the central and south sections of San Diego County.

Mission Trails FRS II construction area

From a vantage point on a trail in Mission Trails Regional Park, construction equipment can be seen working on the underground water tank that will help balance regional water flows. Photo: Jim Madaffer

FRS II will help balance regional water flows

Work efforts on the new FRS II are beginning to take shape with many of the wall sections installed.

The FRS II will be an underground concrete water tank that will store slightly less than five million gallons of water and be used to balance flows in the aqueduct system. FRS II will be the second underground water tank in the park – both work to efficiently move water through the region. Construction is also underway on a new flow control facility, which is part of the project.

Drone aerial view of Mission Trails FRS II project

Crews captured an aerial view of part of the project site using a drone, which helps to visualize project areas that are not easily accessible. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority

Contruction closure information

Some trails in the northwest area of the park are closed during FRS II construction hours (Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.), with portions closed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Water Authority created an interactive map showing the location of the closed trails. Visit www.sdcwa.org/mission-trails-FRS to view the map and learn more information about the project. For questions about the project call a toll-free project information line at (877) 682-9283, ext. 7004, or email

Night construction is underway for the Pure Water Oceanside project including well drilling. Photo: City of Oceeanside

Pure Water Oceanside Installing New Pipelines and Drilling Wells

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Pure Water Oceanside is installing new pipelines and drilling wells as the recycled water project continues on track for completion in 2022. The advanced water purification project, and expansion of the City of Oceanside’s existing recycled water system, will deliver a new, local source of high-quality drinking water supplying more than 30% of the city’s water supply when completed.

Residents are kept up to date on the progress of construction for the Pure Water Oceanside project. Photo: City of Oceanside

An interactive construction map is one of several sources for information about the Pure Water Oceanside project. Photo: City of Oceanside

Residents are kept up to date on construction impacts to streets and other infrastructure through several outreach efforts including an interactive construction map, detailed online schedule, regular newsletters, and virtual open house presentations live on the City of Oceanside’s YouTube channel, offering residents the opportunity to ask questions.

“We understand living and commuting near a construction site is not easy,” said Cari Dale, water utilities director for the City of Oceanside. “Everyone involved with the project is thankful to those residents and business owners who live and work in the construction zone for their patience and cooperation. It is crucial to the successful on-time completion of this vital infrastructure project.”

Pipeline construction

Pure Water Oceanside pipeline installation is now taking place at North River Road and the Douglas Drive intersection, and moving towards Pala. In addition, pipeline installation on Pala Road is now underway. The road will remain open both ways but will require lane closures. Photo: City of Oceanside

Pipeline installation at North River Road and the Douglas Drive intersection is moving towards Pala Road. Photo: City of Oceanside

Pipeline installation is now taking place at North River Road and the Douglas Drive intersection, and moving towards Pala. Lane closures on Douglas Drive allow access to the businesses through the entrance on North River Road.

In addition, pipeline installation on Pala Road is now underway. The road will remain open both ways but will require lane closures.

Well construction, which includes injection and monitoring wells, requires closing a section of Coco Palms Drive (south of Cherrystone Street), which will reduce construction time and impacts to nearby residents. Well drilling will continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week for approximately three weeks until early 2021. During this time, 16-foot sound walls have been installed around the drilling site to direct sound waves up into the atmosphere and away from residents. Night construction lighting will also be mitigated by the sound walls.

After drilling is complete, additional work will be conducted for testing and to install well infrastructure. The post-drilling work will take place weekdays during business hours and occasional Saturdays.

River Bike Trail remains open

Access map for the popular River Bike Path while the Pure Water Oceanside project construction is underway. Map: City of Oceanside

Access map for the popular River Bike Path while the Pure Water Oceanside project construction is underway. Map: City of Oceanside

Access to the popular River Bike Trail path is still accessible on the west side of Douglas Drive. Riders are asked to cross safely at the marked crosswalk at Pala Road and Douglas Drive to access the trail and avoid construction equipment.

Construction on schedule 

Well drilling will allow repurified water to be stored in underground aquifers. Photo: City of Oceanside

Repurified water will be stored in underground aquifers. Photo: City of Oceanside

Construction for the entire project is expected to be complete in 2022. While most construction will take place during regular weekday business hours, some critical pipeline construction elements will require temporary extended work hours and occasional Saturdays to complete the project on time.

Residents can sign up for email updates about the project. In the event of any immediate concerns, residents can call 760-435-4570 and representatives will troubleshoot issues.