AWWA ACE95015

As part of an ongoing groundwater management program, Rancho California Water District (RCWD) is planning to artificially recharge up to 37 million cubic meters (30,000 acre-feet) of groundwater annually through a series of recharge basins located in the Valle de los Caballos (VDC) area of the upper Pauba Valley. The program concept is to purchase untreated, imported water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) during the winter months for artificial recharge and subsequent recovery during the winter months. The system will also be able to percolate natural runoff collected upstream in Vail Lake. RCWD anticipates the artificial recharge program will provide up to 25 percent of the District's ultimate water supply requirements. Design of the facilities included geohydrological explorations, extensive groundwater modeling, HEC-2 modeling, sediment transport analyses, hydraulic analyses, and various soils analyses. Groundwater modeling and engineering were coordinated to produce the final design. Initial modeling was used to generate gross design criteria and a basic design, which led to more detailed modeling efforts and a detailed design.