Water and the Coachella Valley 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<iement • Stormwater Protection • Colorado River • Colorado River Distribution • Lake Cahuilla • Irrigation System • Farm Drainage • Salton 'yea • Urban Water Service • State Water Project • Water Reclamation General District Overview The Coachella Valley Water District was formed in January 1918 under the state water code http ://www.cvwd .org/water&cv .htm 2/5/01 Water and the Coachella Valley Page 2 of 17 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. Home Fable_fo contents 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 Imperial Valley 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 . http ://www.cvwd .org/water&cv .htm 2/5/0 1 Water and the Coachella Valley Page 3 of 17 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 Colorado River 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 California . MW D's Colorado River Aqueduct 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 . http://www.cvwd.org/water&cv .htm 2/5/01 Water and the Coachella Valley Page 4 of 17 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 Coachella Canal 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 . 'able of contents Stormwater protection http ://www.cvwd.org/water&cv .htm 2/5/01 Water and the Coachella Valley Page 5 of 17 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 Salton Sea . 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 .