Irvine Ranch Water District
http://www.irwd.com/your-water/water-supply/sources-of-water.html
Water. From The Source.
About one-third of IRWD's drinking water is purchased from MWD. This imported water comes from the Colorado River via the Colorado River Aqueduct and from Northern California via the State Water Project. Another two-thirds of our drinking water supply comes from local groundwater wells in the Orange County Groundwater Basin, the Irvine sub-basin and in Lake Forest.
Colorado River Project
The Colorado River Aqueduct brings water 242 miles through deserts and over mountain ranges to its terminal reservoir, Lake Mathews, in Riverside County. The aqueduct system includes five pumping plants which lift the water 1,617 feet in elevation.
State Water Project
The State Water Project transports water 600 miles from Northern California through the California Aqueduct. Owned and operated by the State of California, State Project is the largest aqueduct system in the world. The system includes 23 dams and reservoirs, 22 pumping plants which lift the water to heights of 3,500 feet in elevation, and six power plants. The aqueduct is comprised of 473 miles of canals, 175 miles of pipeline and 20 miles of tunnels.
Local Ground Water
For many years, IRWD received almost all of its drinking water from imported sources. To reduce our dependence on imported water, we began to develop a series of local wells called the Dyer Road Wellfield Project in 1979. These wells are located in Santa Ana, range from 400 to 2,000 feet in depth, and extract high quality water from the Orange County Groundwater Basin. IRWD also has wells located in the Irvine sub-basin and in Lake Forest. Groundwater now makes up approximately two-thirds of IRWD's drinking water supply.
Combined, these sources of water make up your local water supply. In general, most areas of the District receive a blend of groundwater and imported water year-round. Some areas, such as central Irvine, receive a majority of groundwater year-round while areas such as Lake Forest receive a majority of imported water year-round.
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