Imported Northern California Water Now Flowing Into Calimesa

CALIMESA, CA — For the first time, imported Northern California water is flowing into Calimesa to replenish local groundwater reserves through a newly completed recharge basin, officials announced Tuesday.

The County Line Road Recharge Basin and Turnout Project, located at Fourth Street and County Line Road in Calimesa, was finished just 12 months after breaking ground. The facility is designed to secure long-term drinking water supplies for approximately 18,000 area residents.

The initiative represents a joint venture between the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency, the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, the South Mesa Water Company, and Riverside County. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors contributed $3.1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the project's original $6.2 million price tag.

The infrastructure features a 7-acre basin, a newly constructed turnout connecting to the State Water Project's East Branch Extension, and a repurposed 14-inch pipeline to convey the flow. The facility can recharge up to 479 million gallons of water annually into the depleted Yucaipa Subbasin, which has faced significant drawdown from prolonged regional droughts.

Regional officials and water executives gathered Oct. 14 to mark the completion as water arrived from hundreds of miles away.

"Just a month ago, this water was in Lake Oroville. It traveled more than 500 miles through California's water system to reach this community," said Heather Dyer, chief executive officer and general manager of San Bernardino Valley MWD. "I am so proud of what our agencies have accomplished and what it means for the families who will depend on this water."

By storing surplus supplies during wet years, the basin will bolster groundwater levels and provide greater distribution flexibility across the San Gorgonio Pass during dry spells.

"This project is proof of what becomes possible when agencies trust one another enough to think beyond their own boundaries," said Robert Ybarra, board president of the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency. "None of us could have delivered this project alone."

South Mesa Water Company General Manager David Armstrong said the project provides a crucial new mechanism for protecting local wells. "That is imported water reaching Calimesa for the first time in our history," he said.

The ceremony also drew statewide water leaders, including Adán Ortega Jr., board chair of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and executive director of the California Association of Mutual Water Companies, alongside Riverside County Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez and Assemblymember Greg Wallis, who presented official proclamations commemorating the opening.