Page 27 - Beaumont Basin Watermaster - 2015 Annual Report

Section 3
Status of the Basin and Administration of the Judgment

imported water can be used to recharge the groundwater basin. The location of this
spreading facility is depicted in Figure 3-3. Deliveries of imported water are conducted
through the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency, which is the State Water Contractor for this
area.

The BCVWD began taking deliveries of imported water for groundwater recharge in the Fall
of 2006 when 3,501 ac-ft were spread pursuant to the storage and recharge agreement on
file with Watermaster. Deliveries of imported water for BCVWD increased over the next five
years and peaked in CY 2011 at 7,979 ac-ft. Spreading of imported water slightly decreased
through CY 2013 to 7,403 ac-ft; however, significant lower amounts of imported water
spreading for BCVWD were documented for CY 2014 (4,405 ac-ft) and 2015 (2,773 ac-ft). A
total of 49,212 ac-ft of imported water have been spread by the BCVWD since 2006 as
illustrated in Table 3-4. Values provided by the SGPWA for CY 2015 need to be checked
against information to be provided by the BCVWD.

The City of Banning began purchasing imported water for recharge at the BCVWD’s Noble
Creek facility in July 2008 and has since recharged 10,115 ac-ft. in accordance with their
storage agreement on file with Watermaster. During CY 2012 and 2013, the City of Banning
spread an average of 100 ac-ft per month; spreading in CY 2014 and 2015 was reduced to
approximately half of the amount spread during the previous two years.

In addition to imported water deliveries to BCVWD’s Noble Creek facility, SGPWA has also
delivered significant quantities of imported water at the Little San Gorgonio Creek Spreading
Ponds. These spreading ponds are located outside the adjudicated boundary of the
Beaumont Basin and to the north of the Banning Fault, as shown in Figure 3-3. Spreading of
imported water at these spreading ponds is likely to be a source of subsurface recharge to
the Beaumont Basin; however, Watermaster has not adopted this finding. Subsurface
recharge across the Banning Fault was investigated as part of the Safe Yield of the Basin
determination study, completed in early 2015.

Deliveries of imported water by the SGPWA to the Little San Gorgonio Creek Spreading
Ponds began in August 2003; the agency has since recharged a total of 10,490 ac-ft
averaging 874 ac-ft/yr. Deliveries in CY 2013, at 881 ac-ft, were less than half of the amount
spread in CY 2011 and CY 2012. Deliveries in CY 2014 and 2015 were basically non-
existent as less than 26 ac-ft were spread in those two years combined. At the present time,
the SGPWA does not have a storage agreement with the Beaumont Basin Watermaster.

3.3.2 Recycled Water Recharge

Prior to March 2010, Beaumont’s recycled water from Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 1
was discharged at Discharge Point No. 1 (DP-001) in Cooper’s Creek where it infiltrates into
the San Timoteo Management Zone and outside the Beaumont Basin. In March 2010,
Beaumont began deliveries of recycled water to Discharge Point No. 7 (DP-007), located
along an unnamed tributary of Marshall Creek, as shown in Figure 3-3. It is believed that a
portion of the recycled water discharged at this location reaches and recharges the
Beaumont Basin; in which case, this would be considered a new source of supplemental

Beaumont Basin Watermaster 2015 Annual Report – Final – December 2016 3-6