Mayor Pro Tem Doug WilsonMayor Pro Tem Doug Wilson commented 20 years ago there were discussions about a
diversion plan to bring water down from the San Francisco area and San Joaquin Delta.
The current mechanism is using pumps to get the water to the delta. The new plan is to
use the Sites Reservoir as part of the state’s water solution.
On January 19, 2023, Mayor Pro Tem Doug Wilson attended the Upper Santa Ana River
Division I Water Forum for the following discussion:
• A member of staff from the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District
(SBVMWD) traveled to Israel to observe how Israel handles its water reclamation.
They use a mechanism where every drop of water Israel receives ends up being
recycled and goes into their system. The wastewater is recycled according to
demand, i.e. they only treat what they need. They also have desalinization
facilities. Unfortunately, we do not have sufficient desalinization plants to provide
source water to then recycle to make the whole program work here.
• The Sites Reservoir, which has been tremendously funded by what used to be
known as the SBVMWD is now getting closer to fruition. It would capture and store
stormwater runoff for release in dry and critical years for environmental use,
communities, farms, and businesses.
• The Colorado River is still in bad shape and a lot of agricultural activities are going
to have to cut their water demand by 10%. Currently, water use by agriculture is
about 70-80%, residential use is about 10%, commercial and industrial use is
about 10% and miscellaneous use is the remaining percentage.
• Tracking Wastewater Locally: Virus Detection in Wastewater
On January 25, 2023, Mayor Pro Tem Wilson announced that he will be interviewing for
a director position on the Executive Committee with the California Joint Powers Insurance
Authority