The Basics
Our Story Begins Here
All 1.5 million of us who call the San Gabriel Valley home have something in common — our water. It's our common cause and common ground. About 80% of the water we depend on every day comes from one place deep down underground. As you are a part of this community, you are a part of an important story - the story of the waters that connect us!
Our Water is Deep Down Underground
Every time you turn the water on, you tap into this underground water supply. Every faucet, every shower head, and every garden hose connect to a network of pipes that—like a straw to a drink—pulls water from this underground source right into the life you are living.
Main San Gabriel
Groundwater Basin
Your water basin is a bit more than 100 yards below the ground, right underneath your feet, and it is situated throughout the San Gabriel Valley. Just imagine the length of a soccer or football field, but downward, deep underground. That's where the vast majority of your water comes from. It is held in a natural holding area formed of bedrock called a water basin.
100 Yards
Deep Underground
Our Water is Mostly from Here
This underground basin holds rainfall, snowmelt and conserved water. These sources are called “local water supplies” because they are found right here in our San Gabriel Valley. They provide most of the basin’s waters. When needed, the basin also holds “imported” sources from the Bay Delta in Northern California and the Colorado River. Imported water is expensive and requires energy to pump it hundreds of miles. However, sometimes these imported waters are needed when rain, snowmelt and conservation aren’t enough to sustain healthy water levels in our basin.
We're in a Drought Once Again
Our Basin's Water Levels
Remain Low
In 2021, we entered another drought. This is the fourth drought in 21 years, a pace that prevents our underground water basin and its waters from recovering from one drought before the next drought begins. As a result, our water levels are starting this new drought significantly lower than they were before the last two droughts began.