Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

San Diego County Water Authority and its partners help Fallbrook, Rainbow flourish

SAN DIEGO COUNTY – From the very start of the Fallbrook story, nothing has been more important than reliable water supplies – and for more than 70 years, that water has come from the San Diego County Water Authority and its local partners. Every cup of coffee. Every birthday party at the pool. Every shower after a baseball game. Every backyard orange tree.

Safe, reliable water provided by San Diego County's regional water agency – in collaboration with its member agencies Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District – sustain the Avocado Capital of the World, allow the region's nursery crop industry to flourish, and support thousands of families who enjoy the region's rural lifestyle. In fact, during a severe drought in the early 1990s, the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District

of Southern California cut water supplies to family farmers in the San Diego region by 90%

and municipal supplies by 30%. The rest of San Diego County came to the aid of farmers to help them weather the dry years and continue to play their critical role providing a cornucopia of crops for the country.

To sustain North County's quality of life, the San Diego County Water Authority has worked with the Fallbrook and Rainbow water districts on strategic investments that ensure long-term water reliability.

One of those advances is a landmark conservation agreement that improves the efficiency of canals and irrigation systems in the Imperial Valley and brings the saved water to San Diego County. It's an environmental success story of major proportions – and one that directly benefits Fallbrook and Rainbow residents, who receive this water from the Water Authority.

That kind of long-term thinking is part of the value created by the Water Authority and its 24 member agencies that work every day to ensure safe, reliable supplies for future generations and to sustain the lifestyles so important to residents in Fallbrook, Rainbow and elsewhere across San Diego County.

More than 90% of San Diego County residents agree that water supply reliability is critical to

sustaining the region's economy and quality of life – and most residents understand that continued investments are necessary to protect the region from the threats of drought, earthquakes and other supply interruptions. Those investments come at a cost, which is why water bills have risen just like bills for other utilities that require continued maintenance, operation, energy, treatment and transportation.

However, investments made by residents of Fallbrook and Rainbow through the San Diego County Water Authority come with big benefits, including significantly expanded reservoir capacity to sustain San Diego County even if an earthquake cuts off imported water supplies coming from the north for months.

In addition, those investments limit the impacts of droughts, which hit with increasing frequency and intensity. In just the past decade, two droughts forced the Metropolitan Water District to cut the amount of water available for San Diego County – but visionary investments by all San Diego County ratepayers protected businesses, farmers and residents so that more water was available to local residents than MWD could provide.

Given all the uncertainties of weather, climate, global trade policies and countless other

uncontrollable challenges, it's critical that family farmers and rural residents can rely on their

water supplies every time they turn on the tap. Even though it goes often unnoticed, safe,

reliable and affordable San Diego County Water Authority water has been there every step of

the way.

Submitted by The San Diego County Water Authority.

 

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