Groundwater Recharge Operations
Orange County Water District is responsible for managing the vast groundwater basin that provides most of northern and central Orange County’s drinking water. As part of our groundwater management, OCWD maintains one of the world’s most advanced managed aquifer recharge systems to replace the water that is pumped from about 400 wells belonging to local water agencies, cities and other groundwater users.
Starting in 1936, OCWD began purchasing portions of the Santa Ana River channel for recharge. OCWD now owns a six-mile section of the Santa Ana River, from Imperial Highway to Ball Road in Anaheim. Over the years it has further expanded its recharge system, which now includes over two dozen separate facilities that cover over 1,000 acres. A number of these facilities are recharge basins that range in depth from 5 to 150 feet.
The recharge basins are located solely in the cities of Anaheim and Orange with good reason – the soil in these cities is sandy and coarse-grained, which allows water to easily percolate into the deep aquifers. West of Anaheim to the ocean, there is a thick clay layer below the ground surface that slows the downward movement of water into the deeper aquifers that are used for groundwater supply.
Along with purchasing land, OCWD has invested heavily in infrastructure to maximize the recharge capacity of its facilities. Key improvements include two inflatable rubber dams on the Santa Ana River. The dams steer flows from the Santa Ana River into the District’s recharge basins. When the first rubber dam was purchased in 1992, it paid for itself within just a few months by saving water that otherwise would have been lost to the ocean. Other improvements include multiple pumping stations, miles of pipelines, numerous valves, flow meters, water level sensors, and a sophisticated computerized control system that allows the system to be controlled remotely via a laptop computer.
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| Anaheim Lake, one of OCWD's recharge basins. |
The most recent improvement to the District’s recharge system is the completion of the Groundwater Replenishment System. This system now provides purified water sewer water from a OCWD’s treatment plant in Fountain Valley via a 13 mile long pipeline that terminates at two recharge basins. This project which began serving water for recharge in January 2008, is providing a new source of very high-quality water for year-round recharge. This is particularly important now that other sources of imported water that have historically been relied upon for recharge, such as the Colorado River and the State Water Project, are becoming increasingly scarce.
More than 100 species of wildlife are found on District lands, and OCWD cooperates with environmental organizations to preserve the natural habitat of these animals. In addition, recreational opportunities include river trails for horseback riding, bicycling and jogging; and several of the recharge basins are stocked for sport fishing.
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| Egyptian Geese along the banks of Anaheim Lake. |
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