After the passing of Senator Dianne Feinstein on Friday, Sept. 29, Metropolitan's Board of Directors convened its facilities naming committee Friday morning. They voted to recommend the renaming of Diamond Valley Lake in her honor as the Dianne Feinstein Lake at Diamond Valley.

"Senator Feinstein was a true champion of water, conservation, and sustainability. She headlined the opening of Diamond Valley Lake and stood by Metropolitan and the people of Southern California through several rounds of negotiations on the Colorado River. Our general managers and board chairs over the decades cherished her for being honest and forthright as we began facing the realities of climate change also impacting our supplies from the Sacramento Bay-Delta," said board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. and General Manager Adel Hagekhalil in a joint statement.

Two projects that will facilitate more equitable and reliable water deliveries to member agencies hit hardest with mandatory conservation measures during the last drought were advanced by Metropolitan's Board of Directors this month. Once completed, these projects will enable water supplies available from the Colorado River and Diamond Valley Lake, our largest reservoir, to reach six member agencies and 7 million residents for the first time.

The Inland Feeder-Rialto Feeder Intertie project (pictured above) will increase water supply reliability across the eastern portion of Metropolitan’s service area, while the Sepulveda Feeder Pump Stations project will increase water supply across the western portion. 

“While many of our communities had access to diverse supplies and stored water during the record dry conditions, about one-third of Southern California did not," said Chair Ortega. "Our board took important steps today toward addressing these inequities. We are investing in new, valuable infrastructure that will help us avoid future  shortages for everyone." Read the press release.

On Monday (Sept. 25), Metropolitan celebrated the dedication of its employees who worked tirelessly to complete the final phase of the Etiwanda Pipeline relining project two months ahead of schedule. Returning this pipeline to service in late July enabled Metropolitan to maximize our ability to transport and store deliveries from the State Water Project in an especially wet year, while project-related improvements will increase the reliability of the pipeline under a range of future operating conditions.

Running through the cities of Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana, the Etiwanda Pipeline transports water from the SWP's East Branch to the F.E. Weymouth Treatment Plant in La Verne. To learn more about the project, watch our video.

Interested in learning more about Pure Water Southern California's innovative water purification technologies and our plans to provide a sustainable, drought-resilient source of new water supply for 1.5 million area residents?

The next public tour of our demonstration plant in Carson is Saturday, Oct. 7, at 10 a.m.

RSVP here to join us in person.

In honor and recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, a collaborative Boyle Heights climate mural is currently on display in Metropolitan’s downtown L.A. headquarters building. The mural, “Interconnected Relations,” draws inspiration from the interrelated legacies of muralism, community-based activism and the collective commitment to climate and environmental justice within Latino communities across Southern California. It was developed in partnership between U.S. Green Building Council - Los Angeles and the Boyle Height Arts Conservatory and will reside at the conservatory after leaving Metropolitan's headquarters building.

The materials used in the mural also embody these themes—its mineral-based paints absorb airborne toxins, rendering them harmless to humans, while the scenes represented on the mural reflect the educational and lived experiences of the intergenerational artists who contributed to this collective work.

This video provides further background on the collaborative project.