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Water and the Page 1 of 17

Coachella Valley Water District Water and the Coach ella Valley

CATER AVA& jSTR1G

[)L sort Springs Marriott entrance lake at dusk

Photo by Robert Keerun CI'UD Public Relations Associate

Table of contents

• General District Overview • Water Conservation and Mana

General District Overview

The Coachella Valley Water District was formed in January 1918 under the state water code

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provisions of the County Water District Act .

A governing board of five members is elected from five general divisions for terms of four years each. Current directors are : Tellis Codekas . president ; Russell C. Kitahara, vice president ; John W. McFadden, Peter Nelson, and John Powell Jr . Tom Levy is general manager-chief engineer .

Nearly 640,000 acres are within the district boundaries . Most of this land is in Riverside County, but the district also extends into Imperial and San Diego Counties .

The district is involved in six water-related fields of service - irrigation water. domestic water, storniwater protection, agricultural drainage, wastewater reclamation and water conservation . Recreation and generation of energy have become by-products of some of these services .

Headquarters for CVWD are located at Avenue 52 and Grapefruit Boulevard in the City of Coachella.The district's urban water functions are centered in Palm Desert at Hovely Lane and Waterway Road.

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Water Conservation and Management

LJppcr (oachella Valley groundwater recharge ponds

Photo by, Robert Keeran 0,14,1) Public Relations :Associate

The Coachella Valley Water District was formed in 1918 to conserve Coachella Valley's water supply after a plan to construct a canal to divert the Whitewater River to to supplement that area's water supply was reported .

The new board's first actions were to file on all unclaimed Whitewater River water and to acquire land in the area of Windy Point west of Palm Springs to be used as a groundwater recharge area .

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Among those efforts were aggressive lobbying that brought about orders from U . S. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding to set aside public lands in the Coachella Valley to conserve water.

In 1919, the board entered into its first contract with the federal government toward the eventual importation of water for irrigation . This would conserve the valley's groundwater supply for urban use .

in 1963 CVWD and Desert Water Agency entered into contracts with the state for entitlements to state project water . To avoid the estimated $150 million cost of constructing an aqueduct to bring state project water directly to the Coachella Valley, CVWD and DWA entered into an exchange agreement with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern .

MW D's crosses Coachella Valley to carry water to serve MWD's 26 agencies along the Southern California coast . MWD also is the major State Water Project contractor .

The exchange agreement allows CVWD and DWA to trade their State Water Project entitlement, bucket for bucket, for the same amount of Colorado River water to be delivered near Whitewater where the aqueduct crosses the Whitewater River 10 miles north of Palm Springs . As it makes this passage, it turns the turbines of a 1 .2 megawatt hydroelectric power plant operated by DWA for the two agencies . CVWD built nine percolation ponds in 1972 to allow this water : together with natural flows in the Whitewater River. to seep into the desert's underground water supply .

In 1973 the district started spreading those exchanged waters . Permanent flood protection to this spreading area was completed in 1979 . In 1984 the district and DWA agreed to advance delivery of up to 600 .000 acre-feet of water from Metropolitan Water District . The agreement. dependent on surplus flows in the Colorado River, required construction which expanded the nine percolation ponds to 19 and adding $4 million more to the $4 .8 million the district had already spent on the construction of these ponds .

The exchange agreemen • ins to the year 2035 .

In 1986 CVWD entered an agreement with the California Department of Water Resources to enlarge the east branch of the California Aqueduct. The enlargement does not mean an increase in entitlement . however it does allow CVWD and the Desert Water Agency to more than triple their capacity to meet anticipated Coachella Valley needs in the next century .

Efforts to conserve the underground water supply have continued since the district was forned . These efforts have taken various forms such as educating residents in the cultivation of water efficient landscaping techniques, use of reclaimed water to irrigate parks and golf courses, recharging of the water supply, hiring a golf course specialist to convert from groundwater to canal water irrigation and a search to develop new sources of water .

Declining groundwater levels have prompted the district to initiate a recharge program for the lower Coachella Valley . The effort included preparation of an environmental impact study to determine the size of the groundwater supply and potential recharge sites, legal action to reduce overdraft and hiring an engineering firm to help farmers convert from well to canal water .

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Throughout its history, the district has strived to make certain that Coachella Valley's water supply has been used wisely and with minimal waste .

i t has obtained contracts to supplement that supply through importation of Colorado River water and State Water Project water through an exchange program, started in 1973 . This has resulted in a water table rise in portions of the valley and a reduction in the depletion rate in the area of benefit which extends south to near Washington Street.

CVW`D has also developed several reclamation plants to clean sewage for beneficial reuse, including golf course and greenbelt irrigation . Delivery of irrigation water through pipelines instead of open ditches reduces evaporation losses, computerized remote control of irrigation and domestic water distribution eliminates waste .

Most of the has been lined with concrete to prevent water loss from seepage .

Grass eating fish have been developed and stocked to reduce water loss to aquatic vegetation in the Coachella Canal .

Two certificated teachers visit more than 21,000 students a year for the district, educating them about canal safety, conservation and water value.

Literature describing water efficient landscape techniques and other water conservation tips is available from the district. Landscape irrigation. specialists are on the district staff to provide coun ,-eling and plan checks for developers and other major ornamental planters .

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Stormwater protection

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6I'hitewuter River siornnvaier channel - 1993 loud Photo by Robert Keeran CVWD Public Relations Associate

The Coachella Valley Storm water District merged with the Coachella Valley Water District in 1937 .

Principal stormwater project of the district through the mid-1970s was the realigning, widening and deepening of the Whitewater River Stormwater Channel and the Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel to serve as master drains for the entire area from north of Palm Springs to the .

This cost approximately $10 million 1960s dollars with most construction work paid from taxes raised within the district's stormwater unit assessment area .

Repairs after major storm damage have been financed from federal and state emergency funds .

The Whitewater River Stonmwater Channel becomes the Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel east of Washington Street . Further west of Washington Street the channel follows the general alignment of the now dry Whitewater River while below Washington Street, where the Whitewater changed course with every flood, the alignment now brings the river under control .

The channel, below a wide intake area above Palm Springs, has a right-of-way of 500 feet with the bottom of the channel 260 feet wide . Dikes vary between 16 and 20 feet in height and the channel is 50 miles long . It has a capacity of 82 .000 cubic feet per second or 130,000 acre-feet within a 24-hour period .

The Bureau of Reclamation constructed the district's Eastside Dike to protect the Coachella Canal and two dikes. totaling 4 .5 miles, were constructed on the west side of the valley to shield Lake Cahuilla and farm lands between Avenue 58 and Avenue 66 . Funds were obtained under a loan approved by voters in the canal-irrigated area .

Detailed engineering studies also have been financed and carried out by Coachella Valley Water District for construction of flood protection works between Thousand Palms and Indio and along the west side of Coachella Valley from Martinez Canyon to Travertine Point in the Oasis area .

From the mid-1970s to early'90s . most of the district's flood control efforts were directed toward providing regional protection for the Cove communities from La Quinta to Rancho Mirage from flash floods from the mountains .

More than 200 miles of stormwater protection facilities have been developed within the district . Construction of protective facilities for the La Quinta area began in 1978 and were completed in 1986. Lower works for the project, including a reservoir to collect floodwaters and an evacuation channel to carry them to the Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel, have been completed . These were financed by stormwater taxes, private contributions from developers in the area and a federal grant .

Upper works in La Quinta_ construction of a dike and debris basin at the mouth of Bear Creek, construction of a soil cement-lined channel which routes water to the reservoir . and construction of a channel and detention pond on the east side of the alluvium were completed by CVWD in 1986 at a

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cost of $15 million with funding by La Quinta Redevelopment Agency . Development of the flood protection facilities for the east side of La Quinta was completed in 1987 .

The Deep Canyon Stormwater Channel, which carries floodwaters through Indian Wells to the Whitewater River Stormwater Channel, has been upgraded by the district . With the upgrading of the Palm Valley Channel through Palm Desert to capture flows from Dead Indian and Carrizo Canyons, Indian Wells residents are now protected from flooding from the largest stone ever to occur in the history of the region. Previously, Dead Indian and Carrizo Canyon flows joined . Deep Canyon flows through Indian Wells .

With the completion of the Palm Valley Channel, only Deep Canyon flows travel through the Deep Canyon Stormwater Channel . The cities of Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert each formed redevelopment agencies to finance the upgrading of the Palm Valley Channel . This $16.9 million project . completed in 1983, includes debris basins at the mouth of Dead Indian and Carrizo Creeks, a concrete-lined channel from Dead Indian and Carrizo Creeks and a concrete-lined channel from the Dead Indian debris basin to the Whitewater River Stormwater Channel following the general course of the existing Palm Valley Channel west of highway 74.

This also protects Palm. Desert and a portion of Rancho Mirage from flooding from a storm similar to the largest one ever to occur in the history of the region .

In Rancho Mirage, local funding also was used to solve other flood problems . Sky Mountain protection, a city project . was completed in 1982 and turned over to the district for maintenance and operation. CVWD provided ultimate storrnwater protection for the Villas, Peterson, Thunderbird and the east Magnesia Springs areas of the city in early 1984 . The Corps of Engineers completed construction of a debris basin and concrete channel on the west side of Magnesia Springs in 1986 . Construction costs for all projects totalled $10 million,

Among the most recent projects are : slope protection from Cathedral City to Coachella, a total of 14.4 miles at a cost of $22 million .

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Colorado River

The Colorado River Basin is divided into upper and lower regions . California, and form the lower basin states .

These lower basin states must be satisfied with 7 .5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually under the terms of the adopted in 1922 . Of this, California will be limited to 4 .4 million acre-feet when the begins full operation . California has used as much as 5 .3 million acre-feet in past years .

Major Colorado River water users in California are Coachella Valley Water District, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Imperial Irrigation District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and (Reservation Division) .

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Now that other lower basin states are using their full entitlement, the California agencies have been working to develop a plan to live within their 4 .4 million acre foot entitlement .

Nine major reservoirs with a total gross capacity of 64,9 million acre-feet serve as storage fo.r the Colorado River and its tributaries in the seven basin states . These are on the Green River in , Flaming Gorge on the Green River in Wyoming and , the twin reservoirs of Blue Mesa and Morrow Point on the in Colorado_ on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, Lake Navajo on the San Juan River in , on the Colorado River in Arizona and Nevada, on the Colorado River in Arizona and Nevada, and on the Colorado River in Arizona and California.

In 1931 the U .S . Secretary of Interior asked that California parties using Colorado River water draw up a priority agreement. Because agricultural users had been the first users and were continuing consumers, they were given first priorities to the water .

The agreement is known as the Seven Party Water Agreement because of the participants : Palo Verde Irrigation District . Imperial Irrigation District., Coachella Valley Water District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of San Diego, City of Los Angeles and the County of San Diego . The specified priorities are shown in the table below.

The bureau has introduced a plan which would give each of the agricultural agencies a set amount of water.

Much of the length of the Colorado River has been designated as critical habitat for four endangered fishes . This action has prompted attempts to form a three state or lower basin habitat conservation effort to protect these fishes and dozens of other riparian species. Otherwise, disputes on dealing with this wildlife could turn the operation of the Colorado over to federal courts . If this is done . the flow schedules, distribution amounts and even the infrastructure of the Colorado could change drastically .

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Colorado River Distribution

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Coachella Canal check gate structure

Photo by Robert Keeran ( V11JD Public Relations Associate

The Coachella Branch . of the All-American Canal was obtained through participation of the Coachella Valley Water District in the Boulder Canyon Project Act adopted by Congress . The contract for construction was signed in 1934 .

It was financed by a $23 .5 million interest-free loan from the Bureau of Reclamation . The loan was repaid over a 40-year period .

Construction, interrupted by World War II, resumed near the end of the war and was completed in 1948 . First water was delivered in March 1949 .

Water travels 159 miles from . . 18 miles north. of Yuma, to Lake Cahuilla, terminal reservoir on the Coachella Canal . The Coachella Canal is 122 miles long and branches out from the main All-American. Canal. 37 miles downstream from Imperial Dam .

The canal terminates near Avenue 57 on the west side of Coachella Valley . It has a capacity of 1 .300 cubic feet per second or 2,578 acre-feet in a 24-hour period-941,200 acre-feet a year .

When the canal was constructed it was earth-lined except for the last 38 miles, from near North Shore to Lake Cahuilla, which were concrete-lined . This concrete-lined portion is 40 feet wide and 12 feet deep .

To save an estimated 132,000 acre-feet of water annually which had been lost through seepage, the first 49 miles of the Coachella Branch were replaced with a 48-mile long concrete-lined canal in 1980. This leaves 38 miles of unlined canal along the Salton Sea between Niland and North Shore . Metropolitan Water Distict has agreed to fund lining of this section in exchange for the saved water . l nviromental studies were under way in 1994 .

The 1980 conservation project cost $45 million . Under the terms of a contract between Coachella Valley Water District and the United States, the cost of the project will be repaid over a 40-year period with the federal government making the annual payments until CVWD begins to benefit from the saved water.

Saved water is being sent to Mexico to help meet treaty obligations between the two countries until it is needed in California . According to the terms of the treaty, Mexico is entitled to 1 .5 million acre- feet of Colorado River water annually .

Prior to the reconstruction, Imperial Irrigation District maintained the Coachella Branch from the main All-American Canal to near Niland . Some land within III) south of Niland is irrigated from the canal. Now the entire Coachella Canal is under the jurisdiction of CVWD .

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Lake Cahuilla

Lake Cahuilla - aerial photo PG,4 Nest Country Club in background Photo by Robert Keeran CVWI) Public Relations Associate

Lake Cahuilla, terminal reservoir on the Coachella Branch of the All-American Canal, was constructed in 1969 to serve as storage for a reserve supply of irrigation water needed chiefly in emergency periods when water is used to combat weather conditions .

Since it takes water 24 hours to arrive in Coachella Valley after being ordered from Imperial Dam, the lake gives the district some latitude when weather conditions change unexpectedly .

Constructed at a cost of S1 .56 million, exclusive of rights-of way and land acquisitions, the lake was financed by a rehabilitation and betterment loan from the U.S . Bureau of Reclamation approved by voters in the Colorado River service area .

Located between Avenue 56 and Avenue 58, west of Jefferson Street against the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains on the west side of the Coachella Valley, the lake is three-quarters of a mile long and half that wide at its widest point .

The lake is between 1 I and 12 feet deep and contains approximately 1 .500 acre-feet of water. At the time of its construction it was the largest soil cement lined reservoir in the world . The basin of the lake was excavated to provide soil for building dikes 25 feet high and 100 feet wide . The bottom of the lake was sealed with six inches of compacted soil cement .

The Riverside County Parks Department has an agreement with the water district for development of the lake and surrounding grounds for general recreational use by the public on a fee basis.

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Bass and catfish are stocked in the lake during warm months and trout are stocked during the cool months. Besides fishing, the lake is popular for boating (power boats are not allowed) .

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Irrigation system

Oasis; irri at} AEI v~dttr U»triDL

Photo by Robert Keerur2 C!'I-f D Public Relations As .sociotc

The 500-mile-long Irrigation water distribution system was completed in 1954 .

It was built all underground to conserve water and land . The Bureau of Reclamation financed the $13 .5 million project with a 40-year interest-l :ree loan .

The distribution system provides water delivery to the high point of each 40 acres of farming area within Improvement District 1, CVWD's Colorado River service area . Each water service is metered much the same as household water.

The district delivers approximately 280,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water to Coachella Valley farms annually. One acre-foot of water is enough to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot 325,851 gallons .

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There are 78,530 total irrigabee acres within Improvement District l not including the approximately 4,000 acres currently being farmed with well water.

Coachella Valley farms consistently have the highest gross crop value per acre of any major irrigated area in the United States .

Even though the district's system has been operating for more than 50 years, it is still a showplace which attracts dozens of irrigation experts from throughout the world each year . The underground distribution system and a corresponding underground drainage system . meters on each delivery, and computerized remote-controlled operation of much of the system help to make it unique among the world's irrigation projects. Many desert countries send irrigation engineers to study CVWD's system before designing their own .

The district plans to use canal water to recharge the lower Coachella Valley aquifer and may someday, after treatment facilities are constructed, use the water for domestic purposes . To reduce the demand on the lower Coachella Valley aquifer, canal water may be used conjunctively with well water where appropriate .

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Farm drainage

Because supplemental water brought into the Coachella Valley for irrigation results in a high groundwater table which would interfere with the root zone of crops, a drainage system for farms is necessary .

Both the soil and the imported water are high in salts making drainage even more vital .

The Coachella Valley Water District maintains a system of 166 miles of pipe and 21 miles of open ditches to serve as a drainage network for irrigated lands . Most of this network empties into the Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel. This system serves nearly 38,000 acres and more than 2,284 miles on-farm drain lines .

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Salton Sea

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Fishing action at Salton Sea State Park

Now by Robert Keeran CVWD Public Relations Associate

Long before the All-American Canal system was constructed, a private canal company constructed the from the Colorado River to irrigate Imperial Valley farmland. Because technology and funds were not available at the turn of the century to construct a canal through the sand dune range which separates Imperial Valley from the Bard Valley along the Colorado River, the Alamo Canal was diverted from the river near the Mexican border and constructed in Mexico around the sand dunes .

The intake on this canal silted up in 1904 and the company attempted to cut another opening in the river. Before work was completed, in 1905 autumn floods on the river eroded the cut and widened it until the entire Colorado River was diverted from its course into the .

Many efforts to return the river to its natural course failed and the river flowed unchecked into the sink until February 1907 when Southern Pacific Railway finally was able to close the gap by building a trestle over the place where the banks were breached and dumping thousands of tons of rock into the stream bed.

The surface of the sea stood at 195 feet below sea level when the break was repaired . Water was at the southern edge of Mecca when the inflow was halted .

Approximately 145 miles east of Los Angeles, the western six miles of the present Salton Sea lies within Riverside County and the remainder is in Imperial County .

Evaporation during the summer months causes the sea's elevation to fluctuate about one foot annually. Total evaporation is about 6 .5 feet a year.

Other than occasional flash floods, the sea's only source of water is farm drainage from Imperial, and Coachella Valleys . After reaching a low elevation of 250 feet below sea level in 1925, the sea gradually has risen to its present elevation of between 227 and 228 feet below sea level .

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At the bottom of the sea is the second lowest spot in the United States-271 feet below sea level . The lowest spot is in Death Valley which dips to 282 feet below sea level .

Largest inland body of water entirely within the boundaries of the State of California, the Salton Sea is 34 miles long and between nine and 10 miles wide .

About 25 percent saltier than ocean water, many marine fishes have been stocked in the Salton Sea and three have survived to become popular game fishes-corvina, cargo and bairdiella or croaker . In addition, tilapia, an East African fish, became established in the Salton Sea and also contributes to the fishery.

The sea also is popular with duck hunters, boaters and water skiers .

Because the sea has no natural outlet other than evaporation, salinity has been increasing and there is concern that it will, someday, be unable to sustain fish life .

CVWD has taken on a leadership role in trying to find methods to fund the desalination effort . The district has entered into a Joint Powers Agreement with Riverside County, Imperial County and IID : forming the Salton Sea Authority (SSA) . This agency has been able to secure significant federal funding in order to examine the feasibility of several desalination schemes .

After visits to the sea by the Secretary of the Interior and a congressional task force, CVWD and the SSA have participated in multi-agency science and research management committees . The goal of these committees is to insure that the management decisions are based on sound science . The SSA and the U .S. Bureau of Reclamation are the co-leading agencies for the Salton Sea planning effort . It is hoped this effor will save the sea's recreational value without reducing its function as a repository for irrigation drainage waters . Such an effor must be realistic from the standpoint of water conservation. Irrigation drainage from Mexico helped hold salinity levels down during Colorado River flooding in the '80s . Imperial Irrigation District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have an agreement to divert conserved Colorado River water from Imperial to coastal cities. A similar agreement being developed between lID and San Diego could further reduce the flows into the Salton Sea. III) faces state mandates to reduce waste flows to the sea.

Another problem facing recreational facilities around the sea is its fluctuating water level . With the relatively flat shoreline, a slight change in elevation can cause some flooding and most of the recreational facilities are located at water's edge .

As increased land was placed tinder cultivation, more water from the Colorado was brought in for irrigation and additional drainage water increased the elevation of the sea . The Salton Sink, by Presidential proclamation, has been declared a repository for irrigation drainage waters . Imperial Irrigation District controls flooding rights on most of the land below the minus 220-foot elevation .

Improved irrigation practices and a cutback in California's use of Colorado River water after the Central Arizona Project is completed will all contribute to a gradual decrease in the sea's elevation during the next two decades .

In the late '70s and'80s, major flash flooding in Imperial and Coachella Valleys and flood controlled

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releases from Colorado River dams negated local conservation efforts to control the rising sea .

In 1979 and 1980, for the first time since was built, all major reservoirs on the Colorado system were full and water was released for flood orders . The additional water in the river flowed to Mexico where it was put to use irrigating increased acreage in the Mexicali Valley. Because Mexicali farmland also drains to the Salton Sea, a portion of the released water eventually wound up in the Salton Sea.

Major flash floods hit the desert nearly every year from 1976 to 1983 . The sea's elevation increased 9 inches during the flooding of September 1976 .

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Urban water service

l.) Li1CStic water ste)r.. Jc reservoir in Palm Desert hills

Photo by Robert Keer an C1,14D Public Relations Associate

Coachella Valley Water District began serving urban water in 1961 when it acquired two small water companies. CV WD was serving 1,100 customers at the end of that first year.

Now the district serves urban water to most of the Coachella Valley and along both sides of the Salton Sea in Imperial Valley.

CVWD's urban water service area is 70 miles long from Sky Valley behind the Indio Hills to Salton City and Bombay Beach along the shores of the Salton Sea .

The district has between 81 and 8 3) wells in operation at any one time to meet the needs of its more than 62,000 homes and businesses . They consume 30 billion gallons of water annually . These wells range in depth between 900 and 1 .300 feet, although water usually is found in less than 250 feet.

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More than 1,420 miles of distribution pipelines serve these customers from water stored in 60 reservoirs .

Even though Coachella Valley has a high quality groundwater supply adequate to meet the growth needs of the area for many years, the supply is not inexhaustible . Coachella Valley Water District directors have contracted with the State of California for delivery of 23,100 acre-feet of Northern California water annually . In addition, Desert Water Agency of Palm Springs has a contract with the state for 38.100 acre-feet. In addition the two agencies buy_ water from other agencies as it becomes available.

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State Water Project

California's State Water Project delivers water more than 600 miles from Oroville Dam north of Sacramento to Lake Perris near Riverside.

Backbone of the project is the 444-mile-long California Aqueduct which draws water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at Clifton Court Forebay and transports it as far as Lake Penis .

Oroville Dam. one of the largest earth-filled dams in the world, is the major storage reservoir for the project.

After water is released from Oroville, it must find its way through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the mouth of the California Aqueduct . Water is lost and quality is deteriorated as the releases flow through this often brackish maze .

A federal-state task force known as CALFED is trying to develop a plan that would protect wildlife, reduce salt-water intrusion into the delta from the San Francisco Bay and develop a dependable water supply.

The state has contracts to deliver 4 .23 million acre-feet of water annually through the project when operating at capacity .

When operating at capacity, the water will flow through eight power plants, (three pumping- generating) to generate 4 .5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, but can consume up to 8 billion kilowatt-hours of" electricity through 17 pumping plants, including A .D. Edmonston, which lifts the water over the Tehachapi Mountains, about 2,000 feet up in . a single lift, the largest in the world .

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Water reclamation

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1 tii ULsC' - i ?5a . r1 .ii~1 10-itfiltcti , ii :ii Nightly maintenance operations

Photo by Robert Keeran Public Relations As.,,ociatc

Coachella Valley Water District began providing sanitation. service for the people of the district in 1968 when it acquired Palm Desert Country Club Wastewater Reclamation Plant along with a domestic water system .

This plant and plants near Palm Desert, Thermal, North . Shore, Bombay Beach, and Thousand Palms allow the district to provide sanitation service to most of the valley that it serves with domestic water.

The district's three major wastewater reclamation plants each have an ultimate capacity of handling 20 million gallons of effluent a day. The largest of the three, the Palm Desert Regional Wastewater Reclamation Plant, is capable of serving the cove communities of Indian Wells .. Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and a portion of Cathedral City . Tertiary. or third stage treatment facilities at this plant allow the district to provide reclaimed water to irrigate several area golf courses .

The facility located northeast of Indio underwent a $7 million major modification in 1997 enabling it to also carry on tertiary treatment . This plant is able to take sewage from the area and produce high quality irrigation water to the Palm Desert Sun City resort and its golf courses .

The other major facility, the Mid-Valley Wastewater Reclamation Plant, near Thermal, was opened in 1986 and allows the district to service communities from La Quinta to Mecca where sewer responsibilities were assumed in 1985 .

Please send inquiries or comments regarding this pane to :

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rnemersxnCtC,vvwd org

Michael Emerson Coachella Valley Water District P.O. Box 1058 Coachella, CA (760) 398-2651 x362 (760) 398-3711 (FAX)

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