The Fenner Valley Water Authority is a joint powers agency among Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD), Fenner Gap Mutual Water Company, and San Bernardino County with SMWD serving as the “designated entity” of the Authority under California Government Code § 6509. The purpose of the Authority is to lease, maintain and eventually own the facilities and associated appurtenances necessary for the conveyance and delivery of water from the Cadiz Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project and provide oversight for operation of the Project in accordance with its groundwater monitoring plan adopted by San Bernardino County.

What is the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project?

The Cadiz Project is a regional water supply and storage project that will actively manage the groundwater basin underlying a portion of the Cadiz and Fenner Valleys in California’s Mojave Desert to conserve groundwater before it is lost to evaporation and make it available for beneficial use in southern California communities. The managed aquifer system will also provide up to 1 million acre-feet of groundwater banking capacity for imported water. The Project’s wellfield and pipeline infrastructure will provide both reliable new supply and underground storage to manage frequent swings between wet and dry years.  Read more…

Latest News

San Bernardino County Joins Joint Powers Authority that Oversees Cadiz Water Supply, Pipeline and Storage Project

August 23, 2023 – Cadiz Inc. announced today that the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted to execute a joinder agreement with Santa Margarita Water District (“SMWD”) and Fenner Gap Mutual Water Company (“Fenner Gap”) becoming an ex-officio member of the Fenner Valley Water Authority (“Authority”), the joint powers authority that will oversee design, construction and operation of the Cadiz Water Conservation & Storage Project (“Water Project”). read more…

Phase One:

50,000acre-feet

(1 acre-foot = 326,000 gallons)

Phase Two:

1macre-feet

Store up to 1 million acre-feet
of imported water in wet years