Noble Creek Recharge Facility
Although the BCVWD has several wells that can pump a large amount of water from the Beaumont Basin, the rights to do so are somewhat limited by our ability to replenish what we pump. The 2004 Stipulated Judgement that adjudicated the Beaumont Basin allocated the entire safe yield to overlying producers and virtually no rights the BCVWD except for a portion of the safe yield that was not pumped by the overlying parties or that amount allocated to the District when an overlyer develops their property.
The BCVWD pumps thousands of acre feet of water from the Beaumont Basin each year to meet customer demand. A large portion of the water pumped from the Beaumont Basin by the BCVWD must be replaced or replenished in accordance with the ruling by the court. Because of this, the BCVWD must purchase imported water and recharge it into the basin. This also allows for more water supply stability in times of drought since the water that is recharged can be extracted months or even years later. This is called water banking or conjunctive use.
The amount of water available to recharge varies from year to year based on the allocation provided to our local State Water Project Contractor, the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency (SGPWA). SGPWA sells imported state project water that originates over 400 miles away in northern California to BCVWD for recharge and other uses.
In September, 2006 Phase I of the Noble Creek Recharge Facility and associated project components was constructed at a cost of approximately $16.5 Million. This phase of the facility provided 8.3 acres of wetted bottom for recharge. The facility was expanded in 2013 to meet the growing need to recharge water in the District. The Phase II expansion provided an additional 14.44 acres of wetted bottom for recharge. Phase II added over 1.79 times the capacity of Phase I (additional capacity) at a cost of about $1.5 Million and should meet the District’s needs for many years to come.
The table below shows the amount of water recharged each year since the facility was constructed:
The BCVWD Noble Creek facility recharges water under contract for the City of Banning