Continuing to invest into water, wastewater and recycled water infrastructure is critical. The region needs to continue to have a reliable and affordable water supply to support the growing economy with exciting and innovative programs such as the Chino Basin Program (CBP). The CBP is a local water supply reliability program spearheaded by IEUA which will treat and store currently inaccessible, unused local recycled water supplies in the Chino Groundwater Basin increasing water reliability for participating agencies and their partners in particular the City of Fontana.

 

The largest customer base in our city belongs to Fontana Water, a private water utility regulated by the CPUC, which has provided safe, clean and reliable water service to the City of Fontana for over 75 years.

FWC’s public drinking water system serves more than 237,000 customers and consists of 31 active groundwater production wells that produce high quality drinking water from three separate groundwater basins, local surface water supplies from nearby Lytle Creek, and imported water supplies from IEUA and the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.  These sources of supply are distributed throughout Fontana through more than 700 miles of pipelines ranging in diameter from 2 inches to 42 inches, and 27 storage tanks with more than 33 million gallons of available water storage capacity.

 

Collaboration with the City and the other water service providers in our region has enabled Fontana Water Company to meet the water needs of one of the fastest growing communities in the Inland Empire and helps the City and its residents to better understand the vital needs of a public drinking water system.

Fontana Water Company has developed a number of programs that will help provide a reliable water supply for today and tomorrow.  These programs are continuously updated and available to customers on our website at www.fontanawater.com.

The central, or core area of the city’s western boundary is served by CVWD, whose service area includes more than 50,000 water connections. That area includes the City of Rancho Cucamonga, portions of the cities of Fontana, Ontario, Upland, and some unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County.

CVWD has three water treatment facilities located within the district’s boundaries, which treat local surface water from the canyons and imported water from Northern California. The Lloyd Michael Water Treatment Plant (LMWTP) is CVWD’s marquee/flagship water facility: It can treat up to 60 million gallons per day (MGD) using conventional water treatment, carbon filtration and ultra-violet disinfection. It is one of the larger drinking water treatment plants in the Inland Empire.

CVWD operates and maintains 750 miles of water mains and pipelines, 34 reservoirs with a total capacity to store 95 million gallons, and dozens of pump stations that meet the water demands of our customers every day.

Key to the success in water conservation that CVWD has experienced over the past decade has been an aggressive public education and outreach program. CVWD participates broadly in community events and conducts several educational outreach programs throughout the district including the wildly popular annual earth day celebration. More information about CVWD’s conservation and public outreach programs can be found at https://www.cvwdwater.com.

As the Mayor of one of the fastest growing cities in Southern California, I can attest to the importance of having great partners and always finding a way to work together. I am grateful for the work that our water providers put forth to serve our community. As I always say, Fontana working together, moves Fontana forward.

This article appeared in California Water Magazine Inland Empire edition, 2023. Learn more about California Water Magazine at this link. 

In one community sitting below Mount Baldy, the Chino Groundwater Basin has been a crucial source of water for generations. The Chino Basin Water Conservation District, founded in 1949, completed a key piece of infrastructure in the fall of 2022, just in time to take advantage of this winter’s storms. A new concrete spillway for Montclair Basin #2, located along the San Antonio Creek Channel, will help capture up to 18 million gallons of additional stormwater runoff for future use.

 

The $1.05 million project in Montclair was unveiled by CBWCD Board members at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Jan. 19, following a series of major rainstorms. The new spillway allows CBWCD to raise the water level in Montclair Basin #1 by eight feet, which represents 18 million gallons of water.

“This project is made for winters like this, when we are inundated by rain that we can then capture and store underground for dry times,” said Gil Aldaco, CBWCD Board Treasurer, at the Jan. 19 ribbon cutting ceremony. “Holding the water locally, rather than letting it flow out to the ocean, furthers our goal of preserving and protecting the Chino Groundwater Basin.”

 

The Chino Groundwater Basin is the tenth largest aquifer in Southern California and provides about half of the water supply for the area. CBWCD has spent decades investing in recharge basins to ensure that water can be put back into the aquifer. The area has a network of basins for both recharge and flood control, owned by CBWCD and San Bernardino County Flood Control District. The organizations work with the Chino Basin Watermaster and the Inland Empire Utilities Agency to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of all the basins in the area to capture and store as much water as possible, which includes stormwater, recycled water, and imported water from Northern California.

 

The spillway project was completed in October 2022 with $300,000 in assistance from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, awarded to CBWCD by the County of San Bernardino.

“Our water supply is central to our ability to grow our community and our economy. During the drought, we have been reminded that it is crucial to capture every drop we can for our local supplies,” San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman said.

 

The spillway complements a planned inlet diversion project by Inland Empire Utilities Agency that will increase stormwater capture by an additional 96 acre-feet per year – enough to serve almost 200 families for a year. Together, the projects were funded by a $1 million grant from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Stormwater for Recharge Pilot Program.

Read the full issue of California Water Magazine – Inland Empire edition for 2023.

Learn more about California Water Magazine.

Water Resiliency: CropSWAP (Sustainable Water for Agricultural Production

Rancho Water’s crop growers have undeniably been hit with mounting demands to maintain a successful annual crop: an ongoing statewide drought; rising costs of imported water; and an increasing demand being placed on the energy grids. To help these customers, the District implemented the CropSWAP program. The program financially assists customers with crop conversion projects that save water by replacing higher water use crops (like avocados) with lower water use crops such as wine grapes, olives, and cut flowers.

CropSWAP helps Rancho Water meet its long-term goals of water supply reliability, efficient water management, and economic sustainability for local agriculture. The 29 crop conversion projects that have been operational for more than one year represent 156 acres of converted crops with annual water savings of 400 million gallons per year.

 

Maximizing Assets: Facility Management Plan

Rancho Water has also employed a progressive Asset Management Plan (Plan) to bring a business approach to maintaining our valuable system assets such as pipelines, treatment plants, and lift stations. The Plan addresses the inevitable aging of our system in a cost effective and planned approach.

 

The benefits of the asset management planning include improved decision making and more cost effective replacements of capital assets. It also allows Rancho Water to work in advance with other governing authorities, ratepayers, and key stakeholders. This approach allows Rancho Water to minimize unplanned repairs providing a savings to the District and its customers of nearly two-thirds the cost.

 

Custom Technology: MyWaterTracker & Leak Alerts

Rancho Water is at the leading edge of technology. To provide its customers with a way to visually view and track their water usage, Rancho Water developed MyWaterTracker, which is a custom technology that provides customers with an easy to use, digital platform to track real-time water use.

Accompanying this is Rancho Water’s leak notification program, which contacts the customer when a property’s water meter detects a possible leak. The early detection gives customers a head start to fix the leak before it causes costly damage, unnecessarily wasting gallons of water and resulting in a higher bill.

 

With an innovative mind for the future, Rancho Water continues to ensure long-term sustainability of its water sources while empowering customers to be mindful of their water use.