Underconstruction

CHINO BASIN WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

FACTS ABOUT THE

CHINO BASIN WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

The Chino Basin Water Conservation District (CBWCD) is a public agency formed and existing since 1949. It is one of the first organizations in the state dedicated to the efficient use of California’s limited water resources.

The CBWCD accomplishes this goal by capturing natural area rainfall and storm water discharges and percolating them into the ground water basin to replenish water pumped for use by the cities, industry, and farmers of the Chino Valley. The Board of Directors for the CBWCD recognized that acting alone to conserve the local area’s water resources was not enough, and mandated “Public Education” as a primary goal of its water conservation programs. As a result, the CBWCD works with other local governmental agencies to protect ground water quality and to educate the public about water quality issues. In this regard, many of these agencies have formed an organization called the Water Education and Water Awareness Committee whose sole purpose is to develop educational programs relative to water conservation and pollution prevention.

The CBWCD serves the communities of Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Montclair, and Upland with recharge of the Chino Ground Water Basin through 12 percolation basins owned and/or managed by it. The “instantaneous” storage capacity of these basins is approximately 2,030 acre-feet (1 acre-foot = 325,800 gallons). Due to the excellent porosity of the soils creating the basins, approximately 4,200 acre-feet of water is percolated into the ground water aquifer on an annual basis. The future plans of the CBWCD include the purchase of lands and construction of additional recharge basins and the percolation of greater volumes of reclaimed and imported water.

The CBWCD Demonstration Garden is one of many programs and projects which the CBWCD supports. “Show, don’t tell” is the basic philosophy behind this almost two-acre garden. Here school districts, cities, landscape professionals and homeowners can learn about low water-use plant materials and water conserving landscaping practices. The garden’s goal is to help people visualize the plants that will grow well in a particular semi-arid environment. Since its inception in 1991, the garden has helped thousands of visitors save water at their homes and businesses. In more recent years the garden has become the focus of new environmental learning programs for visiting school children from throughout the local area.

In promoting its goal to educate the public the CBWCD presently conducts “Water Audits” to evaluate the condition and efficiency of water use in residential and commercial settings. Additionally, the CBWCD actively participates in water conservation programs such as “Garden Landscape Seminars”, annual “Plant Sales” featuring water-wise plants and related educational programs such as “Earth Day.”