Our History

Water has always been a precious commodity in the San Bernardino Valley. In normal conditions the Valley would be considered a desert. However, because of groundwater and irrigation, agriculture is able to flourish.

In 1910, the Water Conservation Association (WCA) was organized to conserve water of the Santa Ana River by storing it in the groundwater basin for future use. In 1931, local citizens voted to create the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District as a public agency to protect against excessive export of the local surface water by downstream agencies. The WCA was dissolved in the early 1940s and all land and water property was transferred to the District.

The Water Conservation Act of 1931 provided broad authority to exercise a variety of powers necessary to further the District's primary goal of conserving water, such as making contracts, acquiring property through eminent domain, owning and operating recreational facilities, owning and operating hydroelectric plants, and intervening in the actions of other agencies when those actions interfere with the natural flow of streams that would otherwise be conserved for beneficial use.

The District has historically operated water recharge facilities in two areas: the Santa Ana River and Mill Creek.

Depending on the amount of rain and snow in the mountains, the District recharges the groundwater basin during most months of the year. Imported water has also been recharged in the District's facilities.

2009 - A Watershed Year

In 2009, the nearly 100-year-old district won its fight for survival after the Local Agency Formation Committee (LAFCO) recommended combining it with the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.

In a three-hour public meeting, District representatives and supporters convinced the LAFCO Board of Directors that the goals and mission of the Water Conservation District were not only different from those of the Municipal Water District, but well worth keeping separate. They were also able to show that combining the two districts would result in a net loss of revenue and would not save any tax-payer money or improve operational efficiency.

The meeting ended a three year battle that began over control of local water resources.

The LAFCO decision has proven to be a wise one.  The Conservation District is participating with Valley District (Muni) in the improvement plans of the Conservation District’s Santa Ana River water collection and spreading grounds, based on recommendations of the recently completed Optimization Study. These improvements will benefit the entire basin by trapping and spreading larger storm flows rather than letting valuable surface water flow downstream and out of our area.  Another joint project is the improvement to the Cuttle Weir. This will allow us to divert over 33% more water, adding nearly 200 acre-feet per day of water to our basin’s groundwater spreading supply. Check back with us often. We are moving on!

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