A $280 million project to bring additional sources of water to parts of Southern California hit hard by the state’s last drought got underway Wednesday, the Metropolitan Water District announced.
Officials from Los Angeles and Ventura counties broke ground in Culver City for the the Sepulveda Feeder Pump Stations Project, which will enable the MWD to reverse flows in its system if needed during severe droughts. The project’s aim is to move water from the Colorado River and Diamond Valley Lake into communities that currently have limited access to those key water resources, usually relying almost entirely on water from the northern Sierra Nevada that is delivered through the State Water Project.
Diamond Valley Lake is the region’s largest reservoir.
During the 2020-22 drought, which were the state’s three driest years on record that severely curtailed Water Project deliveries, communities in Ventura and Los Angeles counties did not have enough water to meet normal demands. Residents and businesses were required to dramatically curtail water use.
“Metropolitan had never before imposed such strong reductions in water use on a portion of our service area. It was an unprecedented situation sparked by the hotter temperatures and more extreme droughts we are facing as the climate changes,” Metropolitan General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh said in a statement. “When we saw the impacts of this historic drought on some portions of our service area, we committed to taking action to avoid this ever happening again.”
The Sepulveda Feeder Pump Stations Project calls for two new pump stations that, when needed, can push Colorado River water and water stored in Diamond Valley Lake into northern LA and southern Ventura counties, reversing normal water flows in the existing Sepulveda Feeder pipeline.
By early 2029 when officials expect the project to complete, the MWD will be able to deliver up to 22,000 acre-feet of additional water annually to the State Water Project-dependent area during severe droughts. An acre-foot is approximately 326,000 gallons, which is enough to serve three Southern California families for a year, officials said.
The pump stations’ design allows for future expansion based on water supply conditions and approvals by the MWD board.
“Under normal circumstances, our system largely relies on gravity to deliver water. But we learned during the last drought that left some communities without access to available water. Now, we will have the ability to pump more water uphill when needed,” Deshmukh said. “Simply put, this project strengthens our ability to move water where it’s needed during droughts, during emergencies, and when major infrastructure must be taken out of service for maintenance or rehabilitation.”
The Sepulveda Feeder project is being expedited through the use of the progressive design-build method for construction, which allows Metropolitan to use a single firm for both design and construction. It allows designers, builders and owners to work collaboratively from the very beginning and creates opportunities to deliver projects more effectively and efficiently. This is Metropolitan’s first project using the progressive design-build method since the state legislature granted the agency the authority to use such alternative methods to expedite completion of construction projects.
Four other MWD projects combined will allow additional water from Diamond Valley Lake and the Colorado River to be delivered to communities in the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley that are also currently dependent on the State Water Project and were under mandatory restrictions during the last drought. That series of projects is expected to be completed in 2027.
“When all of these projects are completed, they will deliver water, and, importantly, they will deliver reliability and equity,” Metropolitan board Vice Chair Nancy Sutley said. “They are a key part of Metropolitan’s climate adaptation strategy and are investments in flexibility and preparedness so that our communities are better positioned when the next drought inevitably hits.”
Southern California imports about half of the water used in the region from the State Water Project and the Colorado River, MWD officials said. Infrastructure limitations in some communities totaling more than 6 million people are heavily dependent on state water, and when the drought slashed state water supplies, those areas had to dramatically reduce consumption.
