Inland Feeder
| Begins |
Silverwood Lake 34°18′14″N 117°19′05″W / 34.30389°N 117.31806°W |
|---|---|
| Ends |
Diamond Valley Lake 33°40′57″N 117°02′03″W / 33.68250°N 117.03417°W |
| Maintained by | Metropolitan Water District of Southern California |
| Length | 44 mi (71 km) |
| Capacity | 1,000 cu ft/s (28 m3/s) |
| Construction began | 1997 |
| Opening date | 2010 |
| References: | |
The Inland Feeder is a 44 mi (71 km) high capacity water conveyance system that connects the California State Water Project to the Colorado River Aqueduct and Diamond Valley Lake. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California designed the system to increase Southern California's water supply reliability in the face of future weather pattern uncertainties, while minimizing the impact on the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta environment in Northern California. The feeder takes advantage of large volumes of water when available from Northern California, depositing it in surface storage reservoirs, such as Diamond Valley Lake, and local groundwater basins for use during dry periods and emergencies. This improves the quality of Southern California drinking water by allowing more uniform blending of better quality water from the state project with Colorado River supplies, which has a higher mineral content.
The feeder system includes three large tunnels, two running through the San Bernardino Mountains and one running under the Riverside Badlands between Redlands and Moreno Valley. Construction began in 1997 and water began flowing through the system in mid-2010. As of 2010[update], it is the only source of water for Diamond Valley Lake.
The feeder begins at the Devil Canyon afterbay in the foothills of San Bernardino, where water is received from Silverwood Lake, and makes its way through the Arrowhead West and Arrowhead East tunnels into Highland. From there the Highland pipeline and Mentone pipeline carry water to Redlands and the northern end of the Riverside Badlands Tunnel. The Riverside Badlands Tunnel runs south into Moreno Valley, where a series of pipelines carries and deposits water into Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet.
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