Page 27 - Beaumont Basin Watermaster - DRAFT 2016 Annual Report

Section 3
Status of the Basin and Administration of the Judgment

3.3.1 State Water Project Water Recharge
BCVWD’s Noble Creek spreading facility, located in the vicinity of Beaumont Avenue and
Cherry Valley Boulevard, is the only facility in the Beaumont Basin where deliveries of
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 peaking in CY 2011 at 7,979 ac-ft and declining through 2015 to an all-time low of
2,773 ac-ft. Spreading of imported water in CY 2016 at 9,319 ac-ft was the highest recorded.
A total of 58,531 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 2016 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 10,592 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. However, spreading
in CY 2016 increased again to 1,477 ac-ft.

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 10,507 ac-ft
averaging 808 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 through CY 2016 were basically
non-existent as less than 44 ac-ft were spread in those three years combined. Currently, the
SGPWA is in the process of finalizing 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. Starting in March

Beaumont Basin Watermaster 2016 Annual Report – DRAFT – August 2017 3-6