News

Upper Chiquita Reservoir Adds Greater Supply Reliability

Culminating more than five years of planning and construction, the Upper Chiquita Reservoir reached a key milestone this month as construction came to a close and the first drops of water began to fill a former canyon that has been transformed into a 244-million-gallon storage facility. Upper Chiquita Reservoir is a joint project of MNWD, the Santa Margarita and South Coast water districts, and the cities of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano. It will soon provide emergency water storage to allow the agencies to maintain water service to approximately 168,000 local families for a week in the event South County is disconnected from its primary source of water, the Allen-McCulloch Pipeline.

Crews will slowly add water to the reservoir over the coming weeks, closely monitoring the earthen dam to make sure it is operating as planned. MNWD owns the rights to 34 percent of the reservoir’s capacity, and the project is just one of the many ways the District is working to ensure our customers a reliable water supply.

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