Yucaipa, California, USA – Planned Groundwater Augmentation supplying 2 cities
Yucaipa Valley Water District provides drinking water, sewer service and recycled water to customers in Calimesa and Yucaipa which also span across two counties: Riverside and San Bernardino. Since 2014, the Yucaipa Valley Water District has operated an advanced purification facility which provides a drought-proof source of water for non-drinking purposes, for commercial, industrial, and residential developments. The District plans to expand its recycled water portfolio with the addition of purified recycled water for drinking, once the Calimesa Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project is complete in 2026.
Recycled water expansion is essential to manage the increasing regulatory constraints, environmental obstacles, and the unreliable state-wide water delivery system. Yucaipa Valley Water District is the first inland agency to operate a high-tech desalination facility which produces extremely pure recycled water. The brine waste generated from the recycled water is transported out of the basin through a 14-mile pipeline which connects in San Bernardino to the Inland Empire Brine Line (IEBL). The IEBL continues another 73 miles to Orange County Sanitation District’s Wastewater Treatment Plant where the brine and industrial wastes are treated prior to final ocean disposal.
Strategic planning has been the cornerstone for the Yucaipa Valley Water District. This approach reduces the reliance on imported water and the recycled water initiative provides a drought-proof water supply. These water reliability undertakings ensure the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of our community for future generations.