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2025 URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN <br /> MAY 2026/FINAL DRAFT/CAROLLO <br /> ■ Exchange Programs: MET is involved in separate exchange programs with the USBR,which takes <br /> place at the Colorado River Intake and with San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA),which <br /> exchanges conserved Colorado River water. <br /> The Colorado River faces long-term challenges of water demands exceeding available supply with <br /> additional uncertainties due to climate change. Climate change impacts expected in the Colorado River <br /> Basin include the following: <br /> ■ More frequent, more intense, and longer lasting droughts, which will result in water deficits. <br /> ■ Continued dryness in the Colorado River Basin,which will increase the likelihood of triggering a <br /> first ever shortage in the Lower Basin. <br /> ■ Increased temperatures,which will affect the percentage of precipitation that falls as rain or snow, as <br /> well as the amount and timing of mountain snowpack (MET, 2025). <br /> Given these uncertainties, MET plans to continue implementing and expanding Colorado River <br /> conservation, storage, exchange, and transfer programs,while also supporting increased water recycling <br /> and system efficiency improvements within the Colorado River Basin. MET continues to evaluate <br /> additional transfer and conservation opportunities to further enhance regional supply reliability through <br /> the 2025 UWMP planning horizon. <br /> 6.2.3 State Water Project <br /> 6.2.3.1 Background <br /> The SWP consists of a series of pump stations, reservoirs, aqueducts, tunnels, and power plants operated <br /> by California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and is an integral part of the effort to ensure that <br /> business and industry, urban and suburban residents, and farmers throughout much of California have <br /> sufficient water.Water from the SWP originates at Lake Oroville, which is located on the Feather River in <br /> Northern California. Much of the SWP water supply passes through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta <br /> (Delta). The SWP is the largest state-built, multipurpose, user-financed water project in the United States. <br /> Nearly two-thirds of residents in California receive at least part of their water from the SWP,with <br /> approximately 70 percent of SWP's contracted water supply going to urban users and 30 percent to <br /> agricultural users. The primary purpose of the SWP is to divert and store water during wet periods in <br /> Northern and Central California and distribute it to areas of need in Northern California, the San Francisco <br /> Bay area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Central Coast, and Southern California (MET, 2025). <br /> The Delta is key to the SWP's ability to deliver water to its agricultural and urban contractors.All but five <br /> of the 29 SWP contractors receive water deliveries below the Delta (pumped via the Harvey O. Banks or <br /> Barker Slough pumping plants). However, the Delta faces many challenges concerning its long-term <br /> sustainability such as climate change posing a threat of increased variability in floods and droughts. <br /> Sea level rise complicates efforts in managing salinity levels and preserving water quality in the Delta to <br /> ensure a suitable water supply for urban and agricultural use. Furthermore, other challenges include <br /> continued subsidence of Delta islands, many of which are already below sea level, and the related threat <br /> of catastrophic levee failure as water pressure increases or following a major seismic event. <br /> In May 2019, DWR withdrew its permit for the two-tunnel WaterFix project in favor of a smaller <br /> one-tunnel project alternative. In July 2022, the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the <br /> recommended Delta Conveyance Project alternative was issued,with the project potentially operational <br /> CITY OF SANTA ANA <br />