The Yuima Municipal Water District was organized in January, 1963 under the Municipal Water District Act of 1911.  The District was formed by the voters for the primary purpose of importing Colorado River water to supplement Pauma Valley’s local groundwater supplies, which were becoming inadequate to meet the needs of rapidly expanding agriculture. Yuima takes its name from a creek tributary to the San Luis Rey River, which means “Snow Water" in the Native American language.

Composition:

Yuima encompasses 13,460 acres (21 square miles) which includes the following lands in Pauma Valley:

• District owned watershed land - 1,126.77 acres(encompassing Assessor Parcel Nos. 132-270-13 (526.88 acres); 132-270-08 (80.62 acres); 132-270-40 (38.20 acres); 134-100-02 (224 acres); and 134-100-16 (257.07 acres) and 37 acres of other District owned lands.
• Wilderness Garden area - 679.1 acres.
• Indian Reservation land - 564.85 acres. Reservations include Yuima and Pala Mission Tribes.
• Taxable lands - 10,500 acres. Yuima's taxable acreage consists of approximately 978 parcels.
• Zero value parcels - 1,226.4 acres. These include easement parcels, churches, community center, open space easements, homeowners associations, state owned lands, and Pauma Elementary School.

The District encompasses several mutual water companies:

• Rancho Pauma Mutual Water Company (P. V. Country Club) which has an area of approximately 1,105 acres.
• Rancho Estates Mutual Water Company (Adams Drive area) which has an area of 508 acres upon which 416 shares of stock are issued.
• Lazy H Mutual Water Company (Lazy H Drive area) which has an area of approximately 35.4 acres.
• Pauma Ridge Mutual (West of Adams Drive) which has an area of approximately 453.73 acres.
• Rincon Oaks Water Service (Water Mountain Ranch area) formed with CC&R‘s on deeds which has an area of approximately 294 acres.
• Three Party Water Company (Borden/Hegardt/Borden properties) formed with CC&R‘s which has an area of approximately 100 acres.

The District also encompasses two community services districts:

• Rincon Ranch Road Community Services District - road district.
• Pauma Valley Community Services District - sewer services in vicinity of Pauma Valley Country Club and Oak Tree Ranch area.

The District's boundaries are adjoined by Mootamai Municipal Water District (401.8 acres), Pauma Municipal Water District (4,323 acres), and Valley Center Municipal Water District to the West. Palomar Mountain State Park is 16 miles from the District, and the Famous Wilderness Gardens is located in the District together with the renowned Pauma Valley Country Club (Club).

Mootamai Municipal Water District is a non-operating water district, which provides fire services only. Pauma Valley Water Company operates within portions of Mootamai boundaries.

The area is unique in many ways due to its varying elevations, private water companies and high rate of irrigation.

The population of Pauma Valley is approximately 1,850. Many residents are transient grove workers and others are absentee owners that reside in Pauma Valley seasonally. Approximately 600 people are served on a regular basis. Others either have their own private water supply or are supplied by the mutual water companies in Yuima's boundaries and have stand-by connections in the event of well failures or demand exceeds their pumping abilities. An additional 1,300 people are reliant upon Yuima's water service on a stand-by basis through existing meter connections.

Prior to Yuima's formation in 1963, the sole source of water was the San Luis Rey River basin. Following a period of drought extending back to 1949, coupled with increased agricultural water demands, the water table fell drastically and overdrafts of the underlying water basin lowered the basin's level as much as 85 feet, forcing the abandonment of some wells and giving rise to increased pumping costs. This condition also prompted the filing of the Strub vs. Palomar Mutual Water Company suit to which Yuima is successor in interest and which limits the Improvement District ‘A‘s‘ (IDA‘s) withdrawal of water from the San Luis Rey River upstream of Cole Grade Road to 1,350 acre feet annually.

Voters approved the sale of general obligation bonds concurrently with the annexation of the District to both the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) in order to receive imported water. These were paid off in 1989 and the district currently has no outstanding debt.

Colorado River supplies are transported from Lake Havasu through the Colorado River Aqueduct to Lake Mathews in Riverside County. Before reaching Lake Mathews, a portion of the water is delivered through the San Diego Canal to Lake Skinner, the major storage facility for San Diego where it is treated.

State Water Project supplies are delivered to Lake Perris, which is the terminus of the 444-mile California Aqueduct. It is then blended with Colorado River water in the San Diego Canal where it flows into Lake Skinner, the major storage facility for San Diego. MWD delivered a blend of 87% Colorado River water and 13% State Project Water in 1994/95 at an average blend of 655.7 total dissolved solids.

MWD delivered 396,076 acre feet of water to San Diego, or approximately 23% of MWD’s total deliveries. Under drought conditions, technically, the Authority has a preferential right to only 12.23% of MWD’s total supply. This has never been used as a basis for allocating supplies, but the Authority continues to investigate long-term water resource alternatives that are potentially secure and prudent, thus the Authority approved an agreement for a 75 year water transfer with Imperial Irrigation District under a “take-or-pay" arrangement that could affect water cost in the future because it will be marked to market and is considered more reliable. Approvals from other state & federal agencies are needed as well as CEQA compliance and other issues before this water can transfer.

The Authority takes delivery of water from MWD in five pipelines buried in two rights of way called the San Diego Aqueducts. The delivery points are located about six miles south of the Riverside-San Diego County line. From there, water is distributed through more than 245 miles of pipeline to Authority s 23 member agencies through 88 service connections to serve 2.6 million residents in San Diego County.

The Water Authority does not own any storage facilities. However, it does have storage agreements with the City of San Diego, Ramona and Sweetwater and has recently implemented an Emergency Storage Project which includes a reservoir at Mt. Israel in Olivenhain’s district. Two projects to increase local storage are planned for the near future: re-activation of Lake Hodges & raising San Vicente Dam in San Diego to increase its storage capacity.

Yuima is served off the First Aqueduct, Pipeline No. 1 near Couser Canyon Road in Valley Center just north of Lilac Tunnel and receives treated water from Lake Skinner. Our water operators communicate with the Authority and make delivery requests twice daily following our estimated flow demands in excess of our local water delivery ability. Because these connections can access only treated water supplies from the Skinner Treatment Plant, Yuima’s total access to imported water is affected by the capacity limitations of Skinner, which has operated recently at or near its design capacity.

Rainfall measurements are taken at the top of Quail Drive (Barrett) and at the Yuima office on Valley Center Rd. Rainfall over the past four years, though only slightly below the long-term average for the region, has been insufficient to maintain static water levels in the Pauma Basin portion of the San Luis Rey River watershed from which Yuima draws most of its local water.

Yuima is entitled to one representative on the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) board (presently, W.D. Bill Knutson) and CWA in turn appoints four (4) representatives on Metropolitan Water District s (MWD or MET) Board.

MWD’s Skinner Filtration Plant, with a capacity of 340 MGD, serves a portion of the treated water requirement of CWA. Yuima began receiving treated water in 1991 from MWD, via the CWA pipeline facilities. Prior to this time, Yuima received raw Colorado River water. Skinner Filtration Plant was unable to serve Yuima filtered water prior to 1991 due to a needed cross-over pipeline between the filtered and the raw water lines and the lack of capacity at the plant. With the cross-over and the expansion of the plant completed in April 1991, Yuima began paying approximately $40 per acre foot more. Because of the loss of a $44/a.f. rebate for agricultural use and the growing capital needs of Metropolitan and the CWA, Yuima’s focus has returned to the production of local water. The AG rebate was re-instituted 7/1/94 for five years and is currently $114/a.f. (see attached Appendix “C").

Yuima was active in the Agriculture Caucus that was formed to meet with Metropolitan staff in 1993/94 to persuade them to review their agriculture water policy and address the issues regarding agricultural water reliability and affordability. Agriculture water is considered surplus water at Metropolitan Water District and could be interrupted at any time, yet it was paying the full price. Agriculture is a water intensive business and the rising cost had created a financial burden that was driving agriculture out of business. In May, 1994 the Metropolitan Water District adopted an Interim Agricultural Water Program to replace the interruptible water discount which was eliminated in April 1991. This currently provides a $114 a.f. discount on imported treated water used for agricultural purposes within Yuima.

In January, 1999 the San Diego County Water Authority initiated a special agricultural water rate which does not include the emergency storage cost component. The agricultural rate differential was $15 per acre foot but was discontinued on January 1, 2003 when CWA adopted it new rate structure.

Yuima takes delivery of filtered MWD Colorado River water off the CWA's First Aqueduct, Pipeline No. 1 near Couser Canyon in Valley Center just north of Lilac Tunnel (a blend of Colorado River water and State Project Water operated by the State Department of Water Resources). The filtered water received used to be disinfected with chlorine only, however, it is now chloraminated (treated with chlorine and ammonia) to reduce Trihalomethanes (THM's) which are known carcinogens. Notices were mailed to customers and adequate newspaper coverage made to advise of hazards involved with kidney dialysis machines and aquariums with this new disinfecting process. Also, nitrification, which occurs in chloraminated water is monitored and during some periods of time MWD will return to free chlorine.

From the CWA connection to Yuima, water is delivered through a 20" line to our 0.5 mg tank (Forebay) at the District's main booster plant. Booster pumps, of present capacity of 20 cfs, pump from the Forebay to the two 3 mg (McNally) tanks. A 20" steel line delivers this water to approximately the intersection of San Luis Rey River and Pauma Creek, where it bifurcates into the east and west laterals.

The west lateral terminates in a12" steel main on Hwy 76 on the West side of the valley at the Rancho Estates Mutual Water Company tap meter.

The east lateral terminates on Hwy 76 in a 14" line adjacent to Improvement District "A", near its Reservoir No. 8 at the IDA Tap No. 1 (across from Water Mountain Ranch).

Line extensions to these main lines include (also see Appendix E):

1. Harms Line
2. Hegardt/Roberts Line *
3. Marshall Line
4. Grovowska Line
5. Barrett-Smith/Chapman Line
6. Schaeffer Line
7. Weir Line
8. Oak Tree Line
9. Fairfield Farms Line. *
10. Sam's Mountain Road Line Extension - Phase 1
11. Sam's Mountain Road Line Extension - Phase 2
12. Metta Forest Line
13. Schoepe Line

     Other: 1. Line relocation in Club.

     * Do not have records of construction or acceptance by District, however, meters have been placed on these lines and District
     has historically made repairs on them.

     Tanks in Yuima Include:

		Capacity
	Forebay Tank	1.5 AF
	McNally Tank 1	9.2 AF
	McNally Tank 2	9.2 AF
	East Side Tank	8.7 AF
	Total Storage Yuima	28.6 AF

Improvement District A:

On April 15, 1968 Yuima and Palomar Mutual Water Company entered into an Agreement for Acquisition of Water System and Palomar Mutual became known as Improvement District "A" (IDA). Palomar's water system was transferred together with its rights to develop, produce and divert water which had been given to them by Rossmoyne Village, Inc. (Special agreements on a case by case basis have been made with some property owners to allow them to drill wells, i.e. Lindbeck, Chandler, and Vorie). Yuima also became successor in interest to the Stipulated Judgment in the case of Strub vs. Palomar which limits withdrawal to 1,350 acre feet per year from the river upstream of Cole Grade Road.

IDA sets its own water rates to pay the cost of water imported via Yuima's pipeline system and its equitable share of Yuima's general and administrative expenses. All revenue received from IDA are used solely to pay IDA's expenses for operation, maintenance and capital improvements.

The old office site was located in IDA prior to the mud slide disaster of 1987. It also is the location of 1,127 acres of watershed land and 31 scattered well & reservoir sites (11 operating wells & 13 which are presently inoperative).

Reservoirs include:
		Capacity
	Reservoir No. 8	2.50 AF
	Reservoir No.6	2.14 AF
	Barrett Reservoir(Ag only)	2.8 AF
	Dunlap Reservoir(Ag only)	5.70 AF
	Dunlap Tank	3.68 AF
	Perricone Tank	15.35 AF
	Hegardt Reservoir(Ag only)	6.00 AF
	Tank #1	0.30 AF
	Mesa Tank	0.64 AF
	Total Storage IDA	39.11 AF
Private Reservoirs:
	House/ H & H - Operated by owner to benefit higher elevation lands.
	Stevens/Underwood/Humason - Operated by owners.
	Pettis - Operated by owners to benefit their higher elevation lands.     *  Chandler/Dewey/Humason - Operated by owner to store water from his wells which were allowed to be operated under a well lease and catch basin agreement.
	Huntington/Testa - Operated by owners.