Mesa Water District Formally Supports Initiative to Increase the State's Water Supply

Water Infrastructure Funding Act of 2022 would increase water supply by five million acre-feet

COSTA MESA, Calif.; October 18, 2021 — Mesa Water District (Mesa Water®) continues to be at the forefront of implementing and supporting forward-thinking investments and initiatives that ensure water reliability for its customers. At its October 13, 2021 regularly scheduled board meeting, the Mesa Water Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt a resolution in support of the proposed Water Infrastructure Funding Act of 2022 (Act), an initiative to prioritize spending to increase California’s storage and supply of clean, safe drinking water.

“Pure, plentiful and affordable water is fundamental to our quality of life, and key to the economic development of our community. We are charged with the responsibility to provide it,” says Shawn Dewane, Mesa Water Board Vice President. “The time is now and this is a watershed moment. Mesa Water’s support of this imperative ballot initiative is a reflection of our dedication to providing an abundance of local, reliable, clean, safe water, for our customers,” he says. 

Mesa Water is completing the construction of two news wells and will soon begin construction of a pipeline to connect the wells to Mesa Water’s main distribution system to increase local groundwater production capacity. With capital investments like these, other regional water reliability projects such as expansion of the Groundwater Replenishment System, and this proposed Act, Mesa Water is confident that California can ensure drought-resilient water reliability for future generations. 

“This initiative would increase our state’s water supply by five million acre-feet, improve aging infrastructure, and construct new means to capture and deliver water to all parts of the state. This is the kind of innovation and planning that our state needs to address recurring drought,” explains Marice H. DePasquale, Mesa Water Board President.

“California residents have frequently voted for billion-dollar water bonds to create new reservoirs and water supplies to help drought-proof the state; however, these water projects either move very slowly through the regulatory process or not at all,” DePasquale adds.

The Water Infrastructure Funding Act of 2022 is intended to qualify for the November 2022 state ballot and would accomplish these objectives: conservation programs that will result in up to one million acre feet of water saved; remove and replace lead pipes at urban schools; allocate two percent of the state’s general fund revenues for water supply construction projects such as aquifer storage, wastewater recycling, conveyance, surface storage, desalination, and water treatment to increase the annual sustainable supply of water to California’s cities and farms, among other objectives.

About Mesa Water

Founded on January 1, 1960, and governed by a publicly-elected, five-member Board of Directors, Mesa Water District is an independent special district that provides water service to 110,000 residents in an 18-square-mile service area that includes most of the City of Costa Mesa, parts of Newport Beach, and unincorporated Orange County including John Wayne Airport. Mesa Water provides 100 percent local reliable groundwater to its customers due to the expansion of its Mesa Water Reliability Facility. Visit MesaWater.org, follow @MesaWater on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, email info@MesaWater.org, or call us at 949.631.1200 to learn more.