Sunday Briefing : An occasional look at Orange County issues : Quenching Orange County’s Thirst

Keeping the county supplied with water involves a labyrinth of infrastructure and organizations. Though it is one of the cheapest utilities, water is among the most complicated to deliver. Where It Comes

Source of Orange County water:

California Aqueduct: 22%

Colorado River: 33%

Local ground water: 45%

* Sierra Nevadas / Sacramento Delta (1) Runoff: Snow-melt and rain from Sierra Nevada Mountains flow into Sacramento Delta (2) California Aqueduct: Water flows from the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, near Tracy, 444 miles to Riverside County’s Lake Perris.

* * Metropolitan Water District (MWD) $35 to transport 325,900 gallons of water through the Aqueduct and about $90 to pump it.

(3) Lake Perris: Water stored in Lake Perris until piped to the Diemer treatment plant.

* Rocky Mountains (1) Runoff: Rain from Rocky Mountains flows into Colorado River, which is regulated by a series of dams. (2) Colorado River Aqueduct: Water flows 242 miles, from the river to Lake Mathews, also in Riverside County. (3) Lake Mathews: Water stored in Lake Mathews until piped to the Diemer treatment plant.

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* Metropolitan Water District pays the U.S. Department of Interior 25 cents per 325,900 gallons (one year’s supply for a family of five) to pull water from the Colorado River Aqueduct.

* (4) Diemer Treatment Plant: Water from both aqueducts meet at the Diemer Filtration Plant in Yorba Linda, the county’s main treatment center. (5) Three major pipelines carry the blended, treated water to Orange County’s customers. The Allen-McColloch pipeline cuts south and joins with the South County pipeline in the Santa Margarita Water District.

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* MWD charges member agencies $322 each year to treat an average family’s water supply.

* Municipal Water District Orange County (MWDOC) charges each member district a yearly fee of $1.85 per water meter and a water rate of $2.85 per 325,900 gallons.

* MWDOC also charges member districts for use of the Allen-McColloch pipeline. Each district is charged an annual $2 per customer for operations and maintenance.

* Homeowners pay MWD the larger of a flat $5 annual property fee or $5 per acre of property.

* Comparative Rates

An Orange County Water Rate Survey conducted in December, 1992, showed a family of five uses slightly more than 15,000 gallons of water each month. Rates listed are a monthly average for a family of five.

* Anaheim: $21.52 Brea: 24.87 Buena Park: 16.15 Capistrano Beach County: 18.00 Capistrano Valley: 12.65 East Orange Co. Water District Retail: 16.40 El Toro: 31.30 Fountain Valley: 10.40 Fullerton: 19.39 Huntington Beach: 10.00 Garden Grove: 8.73 Irvine Ranch: 16.73 Laguna Beach County: 16.20 La Habra: 24.77 La Palma: 23.00 Lemon Heights Mutual: 15.30 Los Alisos (Lake Forest): 26.00 Mesa Consolidated (Costa Mesa): 12.80 Moulton Niguel (Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point): 19.50 Newport Beach: 30.80 Orange: 8.42 Orange Park Acres: 34.07 San Clemente: 14.00 Santa Ana: 9.58 Santa Ana Heights: 12.45 Santa Margarita 1 (Mission Viejo): 29.97 Santa Margarita 2 (Coto de Caza): $47.23 Santa Margarita 3 (Rancho Trabuco): 34.97 Santa Margarita 4 (Rancho Santa Margarita): 34.97 Santiago County: 21.50 Seal Beach: 11.00 Serrano Irrigation District (Villa Park): 10.20 So. Cal. Water Co. (Stanton, Los Alamitos, Cypress, Placentia): 19.24 South Coast: 17.86 Trabuco Canyon (Lake Forest): 21.12 Tustin: 10.50 Westminster: 9.80 Yorba Linda: 8.56 AVERAGE PRICE: $19.24 *Why Some Pay More Some reasons why South County residents pay more for water than those in the north.

(1) Much of North County draws local ground water.

(2) Older cities have more likely paid for their water system infrastructure.

(3) Communities farther from the county’s main treatment plant in Yorba Linda require more pipeline.

*The Players Four agencies are responsible bringing water to Orange County.

* Metropolitan Water District: Formed in 1928. Provides imported water to the coastal plain as a supplement to local sources. Brings water to the boundaries of its 27 member agencies, but responsibility for further distribution ends there.

* Municipal Water District Orange County: Formed in 1951. Represents 27 cities and water districts, ensuring they get a fair share of water from MWD at an equitable price.

* Coastal Municipal Water District: Formed in 1940. Represents and purchases water from MWD for sale to Mesa Consolidated Water District, city of Newport Beach, the coastal portion of Irvine Ranch Water District, Laguna Beach County Water District, South Coast Water District and Tri-Cities Municipal Water District.

* Orange County Water District: Formed in 1933. Manages the county’s major ground-water basin and the Santa Ana River watershed.

* Water Users

The Metropolitan Water District currently receives about 75 million gallons a day to meet the needs of its clients. More than half of that is used in homes. Single-family homes 32% Multifamily homes 23% Commercial 17% Other 20%

* It Adds Up

A shower here, a sinkful of dishes there, and pretty soon it’s a deluge. How much water some home and industrial tasks require: Task: Gallons Bath/shower: 9-12 Dishes: 8-13 Clothes: 35-50 Carwash: 50 Brushing teeth: 2-5 One toilet flush: 7 One low-flush toilet: 3 Leaking toilet per day: 60

* Water’s Path Through History

The history of Orange County is inextricably tied to water. In fact, without water, there would be no Orange County as we know it today. From the first major well in Santa Ana to the arrival of the state water project took a century.

* 1863-64: Great drought forces early Orange County settlers, fheavily dependent on water from the Santa Ana River to irrigate the pastures of their cattle ranches, away from ranching and toward agriculture, requiring less expansive irrigation and allowing the use of ground water.

* 1873: William Spurgeon, founder of Santa Ana, drills a 340-foot well in the city and erects a 2,500-gallon storage tank that serves as the city’s “water works” for several years.

* 1879: City of Anaheim sinks a 103-foot artesian well for municipal supply. More water is pumped; ground-water table drops, requiring deeper wells and higher pumping costs; arguments over water use grow.

* 1928: Fullerton, Santa Ana, Anaheim and 10 Los Angeles County cities form the MWD of Southern California to import water from the Colorado River.

* 1933: Orange County Water District forms to manage the ground-water basin and protect the county’s Santa Ana River water rights.

* 1941: Colorado River Aqueduct, stretching 242 miles, is completed.

*1960: Population growth creates need for additional water. Voters authorize $1.75 billion in bonds to help finance construction of the State Water Project. MWD is one of more than 30 contractors to receive water.

* 1973: Orange County receives its first deliveries from state water project.

* Sources: Municipal Water District Orange County, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Coastal Municipal Water District; Researched by CAROLINE LEMKE, KEVIN JOHNSON, LEN HALL / Los Angeles Times