Maintenance Work Will Shut Water Line to Otay District

Scheduled maintenance on the water treatment plant at Lake Skinner in Riverside County will require the shutdown of a critical pipeline and force the Otay Water District to tap into other sources in order to meet the needs of about 100,000 people.

San Diego County Water Authority officials announced Thursday that water delivery from Lake Skinner will be suspended for five days, beginning Dec. 16. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which owns the treatment plant, will perform modifications and routine maintenance.

Otay Water District spokesman Charlie Cassens said that the lake is the only source of drinking water for the district, and that the agency provides 28 million to 30 million gallons of water daily for 130 square miles at the southeastern end of the county, from Suncrest to Chula Vista.

Cassens said the Otay Water District will obtain water from the Helix Water District, the Sweetwater Authority and the city of San Diego while the maintenance is being done.

However, agency officials said they will be able to meet only about half the daily demand and will cut off all water service for irrigation and construction purposes from Dec. 16 to Dec. 21, or until the maintenance is completed.

The move is expected to produce a 30% reduction in demand, and residential users will be asked to curb their demand by 20% to prevent the agency from dipping into its emergency reserves, Cassens said.

Officials do not expect any water outages during the period, he said, noting that the district normally has three days’ worth of water in reserve.

While the Metropolitan Water District works on the Lake Skinner facility, the Otay district will take advantage of the situation by performing routine maintenance on the pipeline that links it with the lake, Cassens said.