Mina Ziaei – San Diego Water Authority

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A safe and reliable water supply is crucial to sustain the San Diego region’s $268 billion economy and quality of life for 3.3 million residents. To maximize the reliability of the region’s most precious resource, the Water Authority is executing a successful long-term strategy to diversify its water resources, make major upgrades in the regional water delivery and storage system, and improve water-use efficiency.

While the San Diego region has sunshine in spades, it doesn’t have significant local water supplies. In fact, human history in this semi-arid region has always been marked by the search for reliable water supplies. With intermittent rainfall and sparse groundwater, the region today relies on low-cost base water supplies from the Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement, other imported water supplies, and a variety of local sources, including water recycling.

After decades of strategic investments, the Water Authority today is a model for statewide efforts to develop diversified water supply portfolios. The San Diego region’s resources range from the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant to the nation’s largest ag-to-urban water conservation-and-transfer agreement. These assets provide supply security for the region’s diverse economy that includes tourism, agriculture, biotech, defense, and other sectors.