Here in Southern California we live in a semi-arid land that is really, for all intents and purposes, a desert. As a result, we are forced to import the vast majority of our water from other parts of the West. With finite water resources, varying amounts of annual rainfall and snow pack, and a constant increase in demand for this precious liquid our future is tenuous indeed.

From March 4 to 6, 2005 a group of Pasadena area residents participated in an Agricultural Water Tour sponsored by Director Tim Brick of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The purpose of the trip was to introduce members of the community to the complex and enormous system which provides water to our region and, in particular, to the City of Pasadena and its Department of Water and Power.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is the nation's largest provider of treated drinking water. During a normal year the MWD moves more than 1.5 billion gallons of water each day through its distribution system and serves approximately 17 million customers through 26 member agencies.

The trip emphasized the issues of allocations to the member agencies, water rights of those agencies along the Colorado River, and farming and irrigation practices in the Palo Verde Irrigation District and the Imperial Valley. In addition, visits were made to infrastructure components of the water delivery system including the All American Canal Diversion Dam, the Yuma De-Salter, and Diamond Valley Lake which has the capacity to hold six months of water for all of MWD's customers.

Finally, there was a nature and environmental aspect to the experience with investigations of the New River Restoration Project, the Sonny Bono Nature Preserve, the Salton Sea, and the Santa Rosa Plateau Preserve. The images in this album depict these issues and locations. For more information on the MWD, please visit www.mwd.dst.ca.us.