200,000 IE Residents To See $2 Monthly Increase For WaterFix

From the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District: The San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District (Valley District) Board of Directors on May 15, became one of the first water agencies in the State to join a new agency that will design and construct the California WaterFix, a project to upgrade the state’s outdated water delivery system that provides water to 27 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland. The planned upgrades will also restore more natural flows in the Delta, which will protect and improve the sensitive Delta ecosystem.

“Valley District is taking a leadership role to protect the Delta Ecosystem and to provide a sustainable water supply to not only the Inland Empire but for all Southern Californians,” said Susan Longville, President of the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.

The Board of Directors for Valley District voted last week on two separate agreements to support the advancement of the California WaterFix. The Board approved Valley District’s membership on a joint powers authority that will perform the design and construction of the California WaterFix on behalf of the California Department of Water Resources. This newly formed joint powers authority will be called the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA). The Board also approved a gap funding measure to pay for costs associated with the California WaterFix’s pre-construction planning efforts.

The anticipated household costs of this project is estimated at about $2 per month for the roughly 200,000 households residing in Valley District’s boundaries. The benefits of shoring up the State Water Project through the California WaterFix include providing the most viable cost effective long term water supply option for the district’s imported water supplies.

For additional information please contact Ron Merckling, Manager of Water Use Efficiency/External Affairs for Valley District at 909.387.9229 or email at ronm@sbvmwd.com.

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