Orange
County was settled around areas of surface water. San
Juan Creek supplied the mission at San Juan Capistrano.
Santa Ana River supplied the early cities of Anaheim
and Santa Ana. The Santa Ana River also provided water
to a large aquifer underlying the northern half of the
county, enabling settlers to move away from the river's
edge and still obtain water by drilling wells.
By the early 1900s, Orange County residents understood
that their water supply was limited: the rivers and creeks didn't flow all year
long, and the aquifer would eventually be degraded or even dry up if the water
wasn't replenished on a regular basis.
That's why in 1928 the cities of Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Fullerton joined with
10 other Southern California cities to form the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California (MET). Their objective was to build an aqueduct to the
Colorado River to provide the additional water necessary to sustain the growing
Southern California economy and its enviable lifestyle.
The Orange
County Water District was formed in 1933 to protect
the County's water rights on the Santa Ana River.
Later that mission was expanded to manage the underground
aquifer, making optimum use of local supplies and
augmenting those with imported supplies provided through
the County's Metropolitan Water District member agencies.
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It wasn't long
before other parts of Orange County also saw the need
for supplemental supplies. A severe drought in the
late 1940s further emphasized the need for coastal
communities from Newport Beach to San Clemente. In
1948, coastal communities from Newport Beach south
to the San Diego county line formed the Coastal Municipal
Water District as a way to join in the benefits provided
by the Metropolitan Water District.
The Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC)
was formed by Orange County voters in 1951 under the
Municipal Water District Act of 1911. Today, MWDOC
is MET’s third largest member agency, providing
and managing the imported water supplies used in Orange
County.
The Coastal Municipal Water District became a part of
MWDOC in January 2001, a move that streamlined local government and allowed
MWDOC to more efficiently provide wholesale water services at a reduced cost
for the benefit of residents living throughout the service area.
