The San Diego County Water Authority is assessing options—including alternative conveyance—for the cost-effective delivery of the agency’s independent conserved Colorado River water supplies beyond 2047. Phase A of the Regional Conveyance System Study (RCSS) was completed in August 2020, demonstrating potential cost savings. Phase B of the study, approved by the Board of Directors in November 2020, will be completed in summer 2022. This newsletter updates stakeholders on the status of the study.
High-Level Environmental Analysis Begins
The Water Authority is continuing to advance the early stages of an environmental review as part of Phase B of RCSS. This preliminary environmental analysis began under Phase A of the study.
The purpose of this high-level environmental assessment is to identify potential concerns about land use and planning, as well as biological, cultural, and tribal resources along two proposed project alignments. These resource concerns, along with other environmental factors, would go through the appropriate level of state and federal environmental reviews if the project advances past Phase B.

Current work includes a review of existing data and studies, field work at selected locations, and an assessment of relevant regulations. These efforts will be used to identify potential project changes that will help reduce the overall project impacts and be incorporated into the alignment concepts under study.

Water Authority Engages Numerous Stakeholders 
The Water Authority is engaging a wide variety of stakeholders – including local, state, and federal agencies, civic groups, tribal governments, and the private sector – to explore potential benefits and partnership opportunities along the two alignments (or routes) under study, as well as to garner input to inform Phase B work. 

Discussions have included increasing operational flexibility – especially during dry years—by enhancing water storage and improving water delivery system efficiencies. The dialogue has also included energy needs of the two alignments (or routes) under study, the potential to attract renewable energy development, and potential benefits to the Salton Sea.

Those concepts and others are part of the effort to optimize a potential new conveyance system for both local and regional benefits.
The Water Authority welcomes additional RCS study dialogue. To meet with Water Authority staff or request a presentation in San Diego County, including Borrego Springs, submit the digital form at www.sdcwa.org/in-the-community/speakers-bureau/.

In the Imperial Valley, where the proposed conveyance system would connect with the All-American Canal, contact Water Authority outreach representative Darren Simon at 760-337-1386 or email him at [email protected].

Long-Term Plans Align Water Supplies, Facilities
For more than 75 years, one of the Water Authority’s most important roles has been providing regional water planning services that look decades into the future. Long-term planning is important because water agreements and infrastructure often take years to develop.
The agency’s ongoing planning processes continue concurrently with the Regional Conveyance System Study to ensure alignment as the Water Authority weighs the future needs of the region. 

  • The Water Authority’s recently completed 2020 Urban Water Management Plan is one major piece of the planning effort. It concludes that regional investments in a “water portfolio approach” to supply management and a sustained emphasis on water-use efficiency mean that San Diego County will continue to have sufficient water supplies through the 2045 planning horizon, even during multiple dry years. 

  • The Long-Range Financing Plan is updated roughly every five years to support the Water Authority’s long-term fiscal sustainability. It identifies the financial policies that guide the Water Authority’s management of financial risk and outlines how the agency plans to pay for future planned projects over the next 10-years. An update is underway. 

  • The Water Authority also recently started updating its Regional Water Facilities Optimization and Master Plan, which identifies infrastructure upgrades or additions needed to best meet current and future water demands.  

More information about Water Authority plans is at https://www.sdcwa.org/your-water/planning-preparedness/.