Where does San Diego get its water?

Historically, the City of San Diego's water needs have greatly outpaced the local supply from rain. The City purchases approximately 85% to 90% of its water, which is imported from Northern California and the Colorado River.

What is the water supply for San Diego?

In 2012, San Diego County forged a deal to get 10% of its water supply from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant for the next 30 years. The plant produces 50 million gallons of drinkable water — enough for about 400,000 people — every day and is by far the region's most expensive water source.

Is San Diego going to run out of water?

Despite dry winter and drought status, San Diego County water supply is steady. “We've spent 30 years diversifying those supplies so that we have seven, eight different sources of water in the region, so there's no danger of running out."

How does water from the Colorado River get to San Diego?

All Colorado River water is transported to San Diego County through the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct, which is owned and operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).

Why is water so scarce in San Diego?

Most of the water that the San Diego CWA gets from MWD is from the Colorado River. There are no untapped potential water resources aside from desalination of sea water, which is expensive, energy intensive and doesn't currently have the capacity to meet the county's current usage shortfall.

San Diego 101: How We Get Our Water

Where does San Diego get its water 2021?

The City purchases approximately 85% to 90% of its water, which is imported from Northern California and the Colorado River.

What are other sources of water for San Diego County residents?

Local Water Sources

About 20 percent of San Diego County's water supply comes from local sources, including capture of stormwater in and immediately around local reservoirs, small-scale and large-scale wastewater recycling, and ocean water desalination.

Where does La Jolla get its water from?

Water delivery for the La Jolla communities are served by the Bayview Reservoir system, which is a part of the City of San Diego Water Department. Raw water from the reservoir systems are treated at one of the three plans that pump water through hundreds of miles of pipelines.

How San Diego gets drinking water from the ocean?

With its dedication in December 2015, the $1 billion Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant opened a spigot to the Pacific Ocean, creating a new, drought-proof source of drinking water for 3.1 million people in San Diego County, California.

Where does Oceanside get its water?

Today, Oceanside imports most of its water from the Sacramento Bay Delta and the Colorado River, which are hundreds of miles away. This imported water is subject to rising costs out of the City's control, requires an enormous amount of energy to transport, and is vulnerable to natural disasters and earthquakes.

How much water does San Diego receive naturally?

According to the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA), the daily residential water consumption in San Diego County is about 91 gallons.

Where does most of the water in California come from?

California depends on two sources for its water: surface water and groundwater. The water that runs into rivers, lakes and reservoirs is called “surface water.” Groundwater is found beneath the earth's surface in the pores and spaces between rocks and soil. These are called aquifers.

Can I water my lawn in San Diego?

Irrigation is prohibited during and within 48 hours of a rain event. Landscape irrigation is limited to no more than three days per week before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. This does not apply to commercial growers or nurseries, nor to the irrigation of golf course greens and trees.

Does San Diego have enough water?

By 2020, San Diegans used 30% less water than in 1990. Water officials, however, didn't foresee the coming drop in demand and consistently overestimated how much water was needed. Today, San Diego County says it is no longer searching for more water, a position that some in the West might consider enviable.

Where does Southern California get their water?

Colorado River

It's operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) and is the region's primary source of drinking water.

Where does San Diego get its electricity?

Right now, much of San Diego's electricity comes from local power plants that burn natural gas to create electricity. City officials want to ditch that power and replace it with green energy to meet their goal of using only clean power by 2035.

How much of San Diego's water is desalinated?

In 2019, Oceanside added two new wells and a “brine optimization” system that extracts a higher percentage of freshwater from each well. With those additions, the desalination system provides about 15% of the city's water supply.

Who controls water in San Diego?

San Diego County Water Authority.

Where does Santa Barbara get its water?

State Water Project

Water is delivered to Santa Barbara County from the Lake Oroville Reservoir located in Plumas County through a series of aqueducts and reservoirs. Since State Water is used primarily as a supplemental supply, the amount received by water purveyors in the County will vary each year.

Where does Phoenix get its water?

The city of Phoenix 's water supply comes primarily from the Salt River Project (SRP) which brings water by canal and pipeline from the Salt and Verde Rivers , and the Central Arizona Project (CAP) which transports Colorado River water. A small amount of Phoenix' supply comes from wells, or groundwater.

Where does Las Vegas get its water?

Colorado River water and local groundwater are the two primary supplies used to meet our community's current water needs. Colorado River water is primarily withdrawn from Lake Mead and groundwater is pumped from the Las Vegas Valley groundwater basin. Water conservation and reuse help us stretch these limited supplies.

Can I dig a well in San Diego?

The installation or modification of wells within San Diego County requires owners to obtain a permit and adhere to well standards identified below. For general information call the Department of Environmental Health and Quality (DEHQ) Office in San Diego at (858) 505-6688.

Is there groundwater in San Diego?

Wells and other water management systems tap into groundwater. Today, approximately five percent of San Diego County's drinking water is supplied from local groundwater, much of which originally fell as rain and percolated into groundwater during the last ice age.

Are there aquifers in San Diego?

Alluvial and sedimentary aquifers account for approximately 13 percent of the unincorporated area of the County (County of San Diego 2011). Alluvial and sedimentary aquifers are typically found in river and stream valleys, around lagoons, near the coastline, and in the intermountain valleys.