Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Elsinore Valley Water District warns of valve repairs, shoreline encroachment rules and limits to capturing excess runoff
Summary
Director Darcy Burke told the council that divers are repairing custom valves at the dam, reminded residents that shoreline improvements often sit on district land and must be permitted, and explained why Southern California cannot simply capture the recent heavy rains given reservoir and groundwater constraints.
Darcy Burke, a director with Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, addressed the Canyon Lake City Council with an update on local water‑system work and broader regional water issues.
Locally, Burke said divers are on‑site performing repairs on custom valves at the dam; the parts require specialized work and the diving repairs will continue intermittently for several weeks. She thanked the city manager for coordinating on encroachment and construction issues along the shoreline and urged property owners who live on the water to consult the Property Owners Association (POA) and the water district before building. Burke said many waterfront parcels are either district property or contain district infrastructure; building without review can leave homeowners liable for removal and replacement of structures if they impinge on district lines or utilities.
On regional water management, Burke explained limits to capturing sudden heavy inflows: reservoirs in the region (Canyon Lake, Diamond Valley Lake, Skinner, Matthews) are full and there is limited capacity to store additional surface water. She described the two sets of pumps at the Sacramento‑San Joaquin Delta (federal and state projects) and said differing operating levels between state and federal pumps mean some water that could be captured is lost; capturing water effectively requires slowing flows and percolation ponds and substantial storage capacity, which the region has not expanded since the 1970s.
Burke also cautioned that desalting or using ocean water for firefighting has groundwater‑quality tradeoffs: salt can contaminate basins and create long‑term treatment and public‑health challenges. She invited residents with questions about property plans or encroachment to contact the district and said the district does not currently charge for plan reviews (but may in the future).
