San Vicente Reservoir dam

The San Diego County Water Authority is out with a draft of a new water facilities master plan and a climate action plan that will tentatively govern water distribution throughout the region through 2035.

Based on an anticipated "new normal" built around the Water Conservation Act of 2009, which calls for a 20 percent per capita reduction in water use by 2020, the authority has determined it can defer construction of two pipelines — one transferring water between Twin Oaks Valley and Escondido, and another that would have increased delivery capacity from the Los Angeles–based Metropolitan Water District, recently a source of ire related to water rate hikes

Though $653 million was to have been spent on the two pipelines sometime between now and 2025, the authority believes it can push the projects out to at least 2030.

While reduced per capita consumption will do something to alleviate the need for imported water, it won't suffice in addressing extra demand created by expected population growth. For that, the authority points to projects already in the works, such as the massive expansion currently under way at the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside, as well as proposed future local solutions still in the planning stages, such as a possible desalination plant at Camp Pendleton. A private project already approved in Carlsbad, if successful, would be the largest desalination plant in the United States.

Public comment on the documents is being accepted through January 15, and the authority plans to hold a public hearing on the evening of January 9 at their Kearny Mesa headquarters.