Officials celebrate start of $211 million High Desert Water Bank, Metropolitan’s largest-ever investment in groundwater storage
兰开斯特市.——经过三年的建设, the first stage of a critical new groundwater storage project is complete and water is flowing into storage, significantly increasing Southern California’s water supply reliability in the face of a rapidly changing climate. Officials from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and 羚羊谷-East Kern Water Agency celebrated the key milestone today.
高沙漠水岸, 两个机构之间的伙伴关系, allows Metropolitan to store 国家水利工程 supplies in 羚羊谷 groundwater basin. At 280,000英亩-英尺, the water bank’s capacity is comparable in size to Castaic Lake, nearly double the size of Lake Perris and four times the capacity of Big Bear Lake.
“This investment makes all our communities better prepared for the weather extremes that we increasingly confront,大都会董事会主席Adán Ortega说, Jr. 说. “We know that climate change will bring more of the dramatic swings between wet and dry that we saw over the last few years, so we must take every opportunity to store water when it is available. The great news is, we completed this work in time to take advantage of this historically wet year.”
The water bank not only significantly increases Metropolitan’s total storage capacity along the 国家水利工程, the project’s size and scale allows Metropolitan to annually store and withdraw up to 70,000英亩-英尺 of water – enough to serve the annual needs of 210,南加州有5000户家庭.
The newly built infrastructure allows water managers to take water directly from the East Branch of the SWP’s California Aqueduct and move it into recharge basins, where it percolates into the underlying aquifer. 在需要的时候, water can be pumped back out using newly built wells and delivered to Southern California communities through the California Aqueduct.
“访问70的能力,000英亩-英尺 of stored water a year south of the Tehachapi mountains, 是什么让这个项目与众不同,AVEK总经理Matthew Knudson说. “We have designed this project to ensure it provides maximum benefit to the communities of Southern California. This water will be available during extreme droughts or emergencies, when there is limited other water available through the 国家水利工程.”
The water bank will also help Southern California reduce its reliance on the 科罗拉多河, which faces a structural imbalance and requires significant cutbacks by all river users, explained Metropolitan 总经理 Adel Hagekhalil.
“当干旱袭击加州时, 我们可以求助于储存的水, instead of drawing more heavily on our 科罗拉多河 supplies,哈格哈利勒说.
“As we ask Southern Californians to become more efficient in their water use, Metropolitan is also making big investments to adapt to future stresses on our water supplies,哈格哈利勒继续说道. “这个项目仅仅是个开始. We have launched a process called the Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water, through which we will determine the types of additional investments necessary to ensure water supply reliability in a changing climate.”
The partnership between Metropolitan and AVEK to build the High Desert Water Bank began in 2019. Metropolitan is funding the $211 million construction of the project on AVEK property, which was formerly farmland and vacant land. 到目前为止, AVEK has completed the construction of the stage 1 recharge basins, which are approximately 40 percent of the total recharge area; 10 recovery wells; five monitoring wells; and the turn-in/turn-out facilities from the California Aqueduct. AVEK is currently building the stage 2 recharge basins and over the next couple of years will construct 17 additional recovery wells for a total of 27 wells and an arsenic treatment facility. The project will be fully operational in 2027.
“This is a shining example of a multi-benefit project that is good for AVEK and Metropolitan customers, 羚羊谷, 以及整个南加州,AVEK董事会主席George Lane说. “We hope this project showcases what is possible when two agencies commit to a shared goal of water sustainability.”
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail suppliers, provides water for 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the 科罗拉多河 and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, 回收, storage and other resource-management programs.
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