Bay Area Regional Reliability (BARR)
BARR Mitigation Measures
Bay Area Regional Reliability is a partnership of eight Bay Area water agencies to address water supply reliability concerns and drought preparedness on a mutually-beneficial and regionally-focused basis.
The BARR Partners collaboratively developed a Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) to respond to droughts from a regional, integrated perspective. The DCP assessed the vulnerability of the region’s critical water resources and identified 15 drought mitigation measures to improve regional water reliability and resilience. EBMUD is involved in the following seven mitigation measures, which are discussed below:
- Bay Area Shared Water Access Program (SWAP)
- Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion
- MMWD-EBMUD Intertie
- Regional Advanced Metering Infrastructure Feasibility Assessment
- Regional Desalination
- Walnut Creek Water Treatment Plant (WTP) Pre-Treatment
- Zone 7-EBMUD Intertie
Bay Area SWAP (Previously called Regional Water Market)
The objective of SWAP was to outline a process (roadmap) to make it easier for Bay Area water agencies to exchange and transfer water during droughts. The BARR Partners completed a strategy report in March 2023 with input from the SWAP Stakeholder Task Force to establish a framework and path forward to support regional access to water supplies. EBMUD, acting on behalf of the BARR partners, managed a $400,000 grant from the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) that partially funded this project.
Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Los Vaqueros Reservoir
EBMUD along with Contra Costa Water District (CCWD), Alameda County Water District (ACWD), Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA), Grassland Water District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water), and Zone 7 Water Agency (Zone 7) are the eight partner agencies in the Los Vaqueros Reservoir (LVR) Joint Powers Authority (JPA) that have been evaluating potential participation in CCWD’s proposed expansion of Los Vaqueros Reservoir. The Project purpose was to improve regional water supply reliability by expanding the Los Vaqueros Reservoir from 160 thousand acre-feet (TAF) to 275 TAF to create additional off-stream storage for supplemental water supply for droughts and emergencies and increase adaptability to climate change. In addition, the Project would have resulted in additional environmental flows for the Mokelumne River, while making water supply available for wildlife refuges in California’s Central Valley.
EBMUD originally considered participating in the Project at a storage allocation of 30 TAF. After EBMUD completed its evaluation of potential participation in August 2024, EBMUD decided to remain in the LVR JPA but reduce EBMUD’s storage allocation to 0 AF. EBMUD supports partnerships to improve regional water reliability and resiliency and provide environmental benefits. However, EBMUD’s analysis showed that other water supply options in EBMUD’s portfolio (water conservation, recycled water and others) were more favorable than full participation in the expansion project. EBMUD will continue to work with the Los Vaqueros Reservoir partners and others on opportunities for regional collaborations that benefit EBMUD and support our mission.
MMWD-EBMUD Intertie
This project is at the conceptual stage and envisions connecting EBMUD’s and MMWD’s water delivery systems either with a pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge or across the bottom of the Bay, providing potential water sharing and transfer opportunities.
Regional Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Feasibility Assessment
Advanced Metering infrastructure (AMI) is technology which allows water agencies and customers to receive real-time data from their water meters. This information can help customers use water wisely and catch water-wasting leaks. The regional AMI feasibility assessment is currently conceptual, though some agencies are further along than others in planning or implementing AMI within their respective service areas.
EBMUD’s current AMI project, the Phase I AMI project, includes 18,000 customer accounts distributed throughout the service area, and EBMUD just received a USBR grant to add up to an additional 40,000 AMI units. The initial deployment of AMI has found significant water savings due to the identification of large leaks in EBMUD’s commercial accounts as a result of those accounts receiving real-time water consumption data from an AMI system.
Regional Desalination
CCWD, SFPUC, Valley Water, and Zone 7 are evaluating the potential for a regional desalination project. EBMUD’s current role in the regional desalination project is limited to potentially conveying water supply for the Bay Area agencies that are evaluating the project. Additional information on the location, size, and timing of the regional desalination project can be found in the UWMPs of the four main water agencies evaluating the project.
Walnut Creek Water Treatment Plant (WTP) Pre-Treatment Walnut Creek Water Treatment Plant
EBMUD plans to add pre-treatment to the Walnut Creek WTP to accomplish the following objectives:
- Reliably treat a broader range of Pardee and Briones Reservoir water impacted by high rainfall runoff, wildfires, algal blooms, climate change, and emerging contaminants.
- Improve the ability to treat supplemental supplies from the Sacramento River or other potential future supplemental sources during planned and unplanned outages and during future droughts.
- Improve treated water taste and odor by removing organics and adding ozone treatment.
The project will improve regional reliability by increasing EBMUD’s capacity to pretreat raw water to be received from an existing raw water intertie with CCWD’s water system. Pre-design activities are underway for this project. Currently, EBMUD is planning to update the Walnut Creek WTP in two phases: Phase 1 and 2 will increase the treatment capacity to up to 125 MGD and 160 MGD, respectively. EBMUD plans to construct the Phase 1 improvements from 2027 to 2030.
Zone 7-EBMUD Intertie
This project is at the conceptual stage and envisions connecting EBMUD’s water delivery system to Zone 7’s system, providing potential water sharing during emergencies and transfer and exchange opportunities.
A shared vision
The eight BARR Partners consist of:
- Alameda County Water District (ACWD)
- Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA)
- Contra Costa Water District (CCWD)
- East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)
- Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD)
- San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)
- Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water)
- Zone 7 Water Agency (Zone 7)
After adopting principles in 2014 to guide the partnership, the agencies executed a Memorandum of Agreement in 2015, which was subsequently amended in 2019.
For more information
Grace Su, Senior Civil Engineer
Email: Grace Su
Phone: 510-287-7013