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Climatic Conditions

Water Supply

The MWD obtains water for distribution to its member agencies from two sources. The Colorado River Aqueduct, owned and operated by the MWD, transports water from the Colorado River to its terminus at Lake Mathews. In 1978, the MWD was entitled to 1,212,000 acre-feet per year from this source. With the completion of the Central Arizona Project in the 1980's, this entitlement would be reduced to 550,000 acre-feet per year. MWD's second source of water is the State Water Project, which is owned and operated by the California State Department of Water Resources. Water from this source is transported from the delta at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to an MWD delivery point. The district's ultimate contractual entitlement from the State is 2,011,500 acre-feet per year.

State Water Project water is transported from the State's system through Reach 4 of the Inland Feeder System which extends from the Parris Control Facility to the Casa Loma area in San Jacinto Valley. Connections at Casa Loma permit delivery of water from the Inland Feeder directly into the San Diego Canal or into the Colorado River Aqueduct. The San Diego Canal transports State Project water as well as Colorado River water to Lake Skinner, from which deliveries are made to MWD's member agencies in southern Riverside County and San Diego County via the San Diego pipelines.

Supplies for San Diego County Authority are diverted from MWD's Colorado River Aqueduct near the west portal of San Jacinto Tunnel into the First San Diego Aqueduct (Pipelines 1 and 2). Pipelines 1 and 2 enter and traverse San Diego County without going through any other major MWD facilities. The San Diego Canal, which received California State Water Project water from the Casa Loma Canal, terminates at Lake Skinner. A portion of the water from Lake Skinner flows directly into Pipeline 4, while another part is processed through the Skinner Filtration Plant before entering Pipeline 3. This operational procedure may be reversed in the future.

California State Water Project water is blended with Colorado River water at the Casa Loma Turnout as both supplies flow south in the San Diego Canal to Lake Skinner.

Real Time Water Data

Real-Time Precipitation:  -  Graphs from Natural Resources Conservation Service SNOTEL Data --
                                                              Basins in Lower Colorado Region -

Streamflow Forecast Map - Western Climate Center - USDA

Spring and Summer

Snowpack Information - Western Climate Center - USDA

Mountain Snowpack Maps for Great Basin and California
Mountain Snowpack Maps for Colorado River Basin

Water Quality Information - EPA - Surf Your Watershed

San Diego

Drought Information

Palmer Drought Index Map: - Most recent map from Climate Prediction Center, NOAA
Explanation of Palmer Drought Severity Index (Text)
        Third selection in list of Drought Indices from National Drought Mitigation Center

 

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