Where Does Your Water Come From?

Though we live in the desert, the Coachella Valley is very fortunate to have high quality, local water resources. Unlike Orange County, San Diego and many other Southern California population centers, our valley has a remarkable, naturally occurring water source right below our feet.

This source, the Coachella Valley Groundwater Basin, helps keep water service reliable – and water rates affordable – for the 600,000 residents that call the valley home, and the 3.5 million tourists that visit us each year.

The Coachella Valley Groundwater Basin is a large underground aquifer – a body of permeable soil that stores water – 500 to 1,300 feet below the valley floor. We don’t just pump water out of the basin – water goes in as well. The basin is replenished with local rain and snowmelt and with water from the Colorado River that local agencies import.

It holds about 39 million acre feet of water, or about 13 trillion gallons! That’s enough water to fill 20 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.