Imported Water

Upper District is a member agency of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) which operates the Colorado River Aqueduct and represents Southern California’s stake in the State Water Project that brings water south from Northern California.

Upper District’s Board of Directors appoints a representative who sits as a member of MWD’s governing board.   Besides Upper District, MWD has 25 other member agencies spanning Southern California’s coastal plain from Ventura to the Mexican border including 14 cities, 11 municipal water districts (like Upper District), and one county water authority (San Diego).

Upper District is thus actively engaged in the federal, state and local governmental arenas with respect to water policy and legislation. Most of the water imported into the Upper District’s service area is used to replenish the Main San Gabriel groundwater basin.

A smaller percentage is purchased by city water departments and private water utilities to sell directly to customers.  The major policy issues involving imported water include disputes oversupply and financial obligations to mitigate environmental impacts in the sensitive Bay-Delta and Colorado River Basin.  Water quality regulations are also having a greater impact on the cost of water that will eventually get passed along to ratepayers.  Overall, the price of imported water used to replenish the local groundwater basin has more than doubled since 2005.