Water Sources

Drinking Water


The District obtains its potable water from two sources:

Local Water


Lake Hodges

Lake Hodges rests on the San Dieguito River that empties into the ocean at Del Mar. The District jointly retains water rights to the surface water stored in Lake Hodges with the City of San Diego and San Dieguito Water District. The Lake Hodges Dam was constructed and completed in 1918, which expanded the reservoir capacity. The dam was designed by John S. Eastwood, funded by the Santa Fe Railroad Company and constructed by the Bent Brothers. The City of San Diego purchased the Lake in 1925 and currently manages the watershed and recreational activities associated with Lake Hodges.
The Lake Hodges reservoir capacity is 30,251 acre feet, and has 1,234 surface acres when full. Its maximum water depth is 115 feet and has 27 shoreline miles. The water from Lake Hodges can be directly supplied to the R. E. Badger Filtration Plant through the Cielo Pump Station or gravity fed to San Dieguito Reservoir through a recently constructed pipeline.

Lake Hodges Dam

Lake Hodges Reservoir
Find out more about Lake Hodges:

Emergency Storage Project

Lake Hodges is connected to the San Diego County Water Authority's Emergency Storage Project [PDF] through a pipeline which connects Lake Hodges to the Olivenhain Reservoir. Lake Hodges will be used to store imported water for the San Diego region and strengthen available supplies of water in San Diego County in the event of an emergency.

View of Lake Hodges and Olivenhain Reservoir

Olivenhain Reservoir Mountain

San Dieguito Reservoir

The District jointly owns and operates the San Dieguito Reservoir with San Dieguito Water District. San Dieguito Reservoir currently provides an emergency source of water for both Districts' service areas and is not open to the public for recreation.

The reservoir serves both as a raw water storage reservoir and a pre-treatment facility for the R.E. Badger Water Filtration Plant. In addition, the reservoir serves as a flood control facility. Several factors influence the operation and maintenance of the San Dieguito Reservoir.

San Dieguito Reservoir

San Dieguito Reservoir
It is anticipated that multiple projects and/or maintenance programs may be required in the future to improve or enhance current reservoir conditions. In 2012, a San Dieguito Project Development and Feasibility Report (PDF) was completed and includes potential projects for the San Dieguito Reservoir.

Imported Water


Imported water is supplied to the District by an aqueduct from Lake Skinner, located near Hemet in Riverside County. The Aqueduct is owned and operated by the San Diego County Water Authority.
Lake Skinner is a blend of water imported from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California from two separate sources: a 242-mile aqueduct brings Colorado River Water from Lake Havasu and the 444-mile California Aqueduct brings water from the State Water Project originating in Northern California.

In addition to this imported raw water supply, the District can receive water purchased from the Skinner Water Treatment Plant. This treatment plant is located near Lake Skinner and supplies treated water to numerous other water agencies in the San Diego County Region.

California Aquaduct

California Aqueduct
Access to local and imported water sources ensures that the District's customers can receive a stable and reliable source of water throughout the year. Both the local and imported water sources are delivered to the R. E. Badger Treatment Plant for treatment and delivery. The District has historically obtained approximately 35% of its water from Lake Hodges and 65% from imported water supplied by the County Water Authority.

Non-Potable Water Sources


As part of its effort to reduce overall demand on potable water, the Santa Fe Irrigation District is committed to obtaining alternative water sources.

Recycled Water

 
The District currently purchases recycled water from the San Elijo Joint Powers Authority and distribute it to customers in Solana Beach. The Lomas Santa Fe Golf Course and the San Dieguito Park are two of the growing number of customers who have converted to recycled from potable water. The use of this non-potable source of water increases the District's supply of potable water for the essential health and safety uses of its customers.

San Dieguito Park

San Dieguito Park County of San Diego
The District is currently delivering approximately 500 acre feet (163 million gallons) of recycled water, which represents almost 4% of total water consumption. We are exploring other recycled water delivery opportunities and plan to continue to expand our recycled customer base.