Eastern Municipal Water District released its first-ever annual report, highlighting its 2022 accomplishments in providing services to its nearly 1 million customers throughout western Riverside County.
The 2022 Year In Review provides EMWD customers and stakeholders a look at the highlights from a year in which EMWD achieved historical milestones in its nearly 75-year commitment to deliver safe, environmentally sustainable, and industry-leading services to the nearly 1 million customers who depend on it.
“EMWD is proud to be a forward-thinking agency that is transparent and accountable to its ratepayers,” EMWD Board President Phil Paule said. “This publication allows our customers to see the many different ways in which our organization worked on their behalf throughout the year.”
The Year In Review highlights EMWD’s efforts across a wide variety of services, including customer service, water supply reliability, wastewater service, recycled water, environmental sustainability, legislative advocacy, and infrastructure investment.
Among the highlights from 2022:
- EMWD commissioned its Perris II Desalter, which will provide enough clean water for more than 15,000 households annually. The facility was funded in part through a $22.5 million grant from the State Water Resources Control Board and $10 million in in-kind facilities from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
- EMWD received $116 million in grant funding commitments, continuing its longstanding effort to bring ratepayers' tax dollars back into the community for their benefit.
- EMWD completed nearly $160 million in infrastructure investments, setting the stage for it to serve its growing region for future generations.
- EMWD customers removed more than 500,000 square feet of grass throughout the service area and installed nearly 1,000 smart irrigation controllers through its Landscapes for Living program.
- Because of its proactive investments in a diverse water supply portfolio, EMWD was able to ensure customer reliability and did not impose any reductions to residential water budgets despite California facing historical drought conditions.
- EMWD received nearly $750,000 in Low Income Household Water Assistance Program payments, the highest amount in Riverside County. This helped ensure customers most in need were able to sustain service in their homes.
“We hope that our customers will take a moment to read the report and learn more about EMWD,” Paule said. “We are proud of our 2022 successes, but even more so that they set the bar for our levels of service to exceed in the coming years as we continue serving our community today and tomorrow.”
EMWD’s Annual Report may be found at www.emwd.org/annualreport.