San Diego County Water Authority
| Wholesale Water Supplier overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | June 1944 |
| Headquarters | Kearny Mesa, San Diego |
| Website | www |
The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) is a public agency serving San Diego County, California as a wholesale supplier of water from the Colorado River and Northern California. The Water Authority's mission is to provide a safe and reliable supply of water to its 24 member agencies serving the region's 3.2 million residents and its $218 billion economy.
The Water Authority was formed in 1944 by the California State Legislature, and operates under the County Water Authority Act, which can be found in the California State Water Code.
The following agencies purchase water from the Water Authority:
Since 1944, the San Diego County Water Authority has pursued its mission to provide the region with a safe, reliable water supply.
This role links the Water Authority with the first Spanish missionaries and soldiers who arrived in the area in 1769, swiftly realized the local water supply was small and erratic, and began "developing water" (as water industry officials call it).
The Spaniards constructed a dam across the San Diego River and linked the resulting reservoir with the Mission San Diego de Alcala via a six-mile aqueduct.
"Old Mission Dam was the first irrigation and domestic water system ever built by Europeans in the Far West," writes historian Kevin Starr in “Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s.”
The Old Mission Dam, which still exists in Mission Trails Regional Park, was the first water development project in San Diego County. Development accelerated greatly in the second half of the 19th century. Private companies erected six major dams on local rivers between 1887 and 1897. All six stand today, providing water for residents.
"By the end of the last 19th century, San Diego County could accurately be described as one of the major focal points of dam construction in the world, and by 1923 every major drainage system in the county included at least one reservoir," writes geographer Philip Pryde in his book, “San Diego: An Introduction to the Region."
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