Mayor Valdivia Leads Water Discussion

Mayor John Valdivia held an online discussion recently with Miguel Guerrero, San Bernardino Municipal Water Department’s (SBMWD) General Manager to share information about the city’s water supply and upcoming changes.

The city’s water supply comes from the bunker-hill basin and that water is stored in some 50 above ground water collection facilities.  That clean water is then delivered to homes in San Bernardino via nearly 700 miles of underground pipeline.  Wastewater is collected and run through the vast sewer line system and ultimately sent to the wastewater treatment plant.

There are two different plants that treat wastewater in San Bernardino. After treatment, water from these operations is transferred to a jointly owned facility in Colton which then discharges the water into the Santa Ana River.

San Bernardino’s water operations dates back more than 100 years.

The Mayor praised the work of Guerrero and his employees as well as the water board that helps oversee operations of the utilities. “Water is life,” stressed Mayor Valdivia. “You can’t have a vibrant community without a clean water supply.”

A challenge SBMWD will soon be facing is the loss of water that East Valley Water District will be treating that had traditionally flowed through the city.  Not being contracted to treat that water will be a significant financial hit to the system.  Guerrero stated that the main way they were looking to offset that financial shortfall was through greater operational efficiency of the entire water utility system.

SBMWD manages three interconnected entities, the water utility, the wastewater treatment system and the sewer collection system.