New roadmap will guide Orange County water management

Resilience, adaptive, innovation. That is the theme coming out of a new plan by the Orange County Water District aimed at strengthening the region’s long-term water security.

Released last week, Orange County Water District’s Resilience Plan: Adaptive Strategies for Securing Abundant and Reliable Water Supplies, is a strategic guide for future investments, planning decisions, and policy initiatives over the next 25 years.

“Ensuring a reliable water supply requires careful planning, innovation, and investment,” said Denis R. Bilodeau, P.E., board president. “The Resilience Plan builds on OCWD’s long history of proactive water management, providing a framework to safeguard our region’s water future.”

The plan identifies 16 priority projects over the next five years for the District to address:

• Construct treatment systems on production wells affected by PFAS
• Construct seawater barrier for Sunset Gap
• Study potential of expanding the operating range of the groundwater basin
• Pursue appropriate actions to contain and remediate contaminated groundwater in the South Basin area
• Replace selected aging Talbert Barrier injection wells and locate replacement wells in more optimal locations
• Examine opportunities to bolster GWRS supplies, including diverting urban runoff to OC San
• Participate with Mesa Water, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach in Local Groundwater Supply Improvement Project to examine using purified brackish groundwater for additional water supplies
• Increase stormwater capture using Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) at Prado Dam
• Develop the Prado Basin Sediment Management Regional Strategic Plan
• Study existing capacity to recharge GWRS water and suite of potential projects to increase recharge capabilities and operational flexibility
• Evaluate potential of removing suspended sediment from Santa Ana River water that is supplied to deep basins
• Rehabilitate Anaheim Lake Recharge Basin
• Construct facilities to convey water to lower Santiago Creek downstream of Hart Park
• Improve conveyance capacity to the Warner Basin Recharge System and reoperate the system for increased stormwater capture
• Evaluate conveyance capacity of recharge system, including potential constraints at Lakeview Ave. and Warner-Anaheim Pipeline
• Construct infrastructure at OCWD field operations in Anaheim and Prado to supply zero-emissions vehicles that will need to be purchased in the near future.

OCWD says this plan is different from previous documents as it will allow the District to remain flexible and responsive to changing conditions. For additional information about OCWD’s Resilience Plan, visit www.ocwd.com.