Coachella Valley Water District Engineer’s Report on Water Supply and Replenishment Assessment for the East Whitewater River Subbasin Area of Benefit

Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) and Desert Water Agency (DWA) have been importing Colorado River water exchanged for State Water Project (SWP) water allocations to replenish the groundwater within the Coachella Valley Groundwater Basin since 1973. Groundwater replenishment within the East Whitewater River Subbasin began in 1997 through a pilot program at the Thomas E. Levy Groundwater Replenishment Facility (TEL Replenishment Facility). In 2004, the Martinez Canyon pilot project was brought online.

If groundwater replenishment with imported water is eliminated, groundwater overdraft will result. Increased overdraft results in declining water levels, increased pump lifts, and increased energy consumption to pump groundwater for irrigation and domestic use. Extreme overdraft has the potential to cause ground surface subsidence and to impact water quality and groundwater storage volume.