Groundwater Recharge

The Orange County Water District (OCWD) is responsible for managing a very large groundwater basin that provides approximately 60% of the potable water supply for 2.4 million residents of north and central Orange County.

In 1936, OCWD began purchasing portions of the Santa Ana River channel to actively manage capture of the river water as a source of supply for the groundwater basin.  Today, OCWD owns approximately 1,000 acres contained within a six-mile section of the Santa Ana River from Imperial Highway to Ball Road in Anaheim, California.  There are more than two dozen recharge basins in this area that range in depth from 5 to 150 feet (1.5 to 45 meters).

After water is purified through the GWRS, about half of it is pumped in a 13-mile (21 kilometers) pipeline to two of OCWD’s recharge basins, Kraemer and Miller, in Anaheim.  The GWRS water percolates through the sand and gravel in these basins and naturally filters into the county’s groundwater basin.  This groundwater is pumped from over 400 wells operated by local water agencies, cities and other groundwater users. The GWRS is an important and effective way to replenish the groundwater basin.