Customers in areas of Western Riverside County asked to stop outdoor watering during emergency pipeline repair

More than 250,000 consumers in Moreno Valley and nearby Riverside County communities are being called on to immediately stop outdoor water use – including landscape irrigation, washing cars and filling pools – while a state-operated pipeline undergoes emergency repairs. Essential indoor water service for drinking, bathing, and washing is not affected.

Officials from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Eastern Municipal Water District and Western Municipal Water District made the water-saving plea tonight as officials from the California Department of Water Resources prepared to repair a leak in the Santa Ana Valley Pipeline, which delivers Northern California water from the State Water Project to the region.

While the leak’s cause is being investigated and the timeline for repairs is not yet available, crews are working around the clock to complete the repair as quickly as possible, while following all regional health guidelines related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Updates will be made available on the water agencies’ websites, mwdh2o.com, wmwd.com and emwd.org.

Along with Moreno Valley residents, consumers in the nearby Riverside communities of Lake Mathews, Orangecrest, Mission Grove, Woodcrest, March Air Reserve Base, Lake Hills, Air Force Village West, and Hillcrest are being asked to immediately stop outdoor water use to ensure the temporarily limited supply in storage will last through the emergency repair period. Conservation actions do not include bathing, washing and cleaning, which are essential to protect against COVID-19.

In addition, Eastern and Western are shutting off large landscape customers during the emergency repairs to save water. These include parks and schools in the affected areas as well as Sunnymead Ranch.

However, with warm weather in the forecast, residential customers also need to take immediate action.

“It is critical that everyone does their part to ensure that maintenance and repairs to this critical
pipeline from Northern California run smoothly,” said Western’s General Manager Craig Miller. “We need our customers’ cooperation to immediately stop outdoor water use so that our remaining water supplies can meet the essential indoor needs of all our customers.”

Paul Jones, Eastern General Manager, agreed that the immediate water-saving actions by consumers and businesses are essential to ensure that the stored local supplies are sufficient.
“We’re confident that these emergency repairs will be completed quickly, but our emergency
storage reserves and other sources of supply are limited in this portion of our service area,” he said.

“This is a serious situation, but working together we can ensure that all consumers continue to
have reliable supplies for indoor use,” added Deven Upadhyay, Metropolitan’s assistant general manager and chief operating officer.

For more information about the emergency work, visit mwdh2o.com, wmwd.com or emwd.org, or
call Western at 951-571-7104, or Eastern at 951-928-3777.