Not every drop of water that makes its way to the High Desert ends up in a home or on a farmer’s field. Some of that State Water Project water is now being pumped back into the ground to help preserve the region’s water supplies, under MWA’s Oro Grande Recharge project.

In 2002, the Mojave Water Agency created four percolation ponds at the Oro Grande Wash and began pumping water into the site to test how much would recharge underground aquifers.

At the end of 2002, test data showed an absorption rate of about 3.4 acre-feet (more than a million gallons) of water back into the ground each day. This absorption rate slowed as time went on, as anticipated by Agency officials.

The pilot project has provided valuable information needed to design and implement full-scale facilities that will add water to the High Desert’s aquifers – a key element of the Agency’s efforts to secure a stable, secure regional water supply.