EVMWD Receives $4.76 Million in Grants

From Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District:

In an effort to modernize water service and invest in more efficient water practices, Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) received $4.76 million in grants and low interest loans from the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Green Project Program. The funding will allow EVMWD to install advanced metering technology throughout the service area. The funding, which is made up of $2.38 million in grants and $2.38 million in low interest loans, will allow EVMWD to retrofit 37,438 meters, which currently do not have the advanced meter technology.

The advanced meter technology is a device added to a customer’s water meter, which can be read with radio signals between the meter and an antenna located at a nearby water reservoir. Once installed, the advanced meter will provide customers with the ability to immediately detect leaks, view water usage, set alerts, and better gauge their daily water saving efforts. This new technology will also allow EVMWD to manage meters remotely and detect leaks within its distribution system immediately.

“We are grateful to the State for allowing EVMWD, through its many funding programs, to take another meaningful step towards water conservation for the future,” said Phil Williams, president of the board of directors for EVMWD. “The funds that have been made available will allow EVMWD to expand our conservation efforts without burdening our ratepayers.”

With the installation of the automated metering devices, EVMWD expects to see savings of more than 1200 acre feet of water a year, reducing the amount of expensive imported water needed to meet demands.

EVMWD also recently received more than $1.6 million from the California Department of Water Resources Water- Energy Grant and the Bay Delta Restoration Program: CALFED Water Use Efficiency Grant to assist in funding for the earlier phases of the project. Customers in Lakeland Village and other parts of Lake Elsinore received the advanced meter technology as part of the pilot program. The addition of the device to the remaining meters within the service area is ongoing and will be completed within the next two years.

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