Beginning in 1991, SB Valley worked to acquire additional water from the Santa Ana River which would become available through the planned construction of the Seven Oaks Dam. To accomplish this task, it took many years of dedicated coordination and regulatory hurdles, including demonstrating to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) that the dam would create new opportunities to capture and store water. 

At the time, the SWRCB had designated the river as “fully appropriated” year-round, meaning no new water rights could be granted without changing the designation. Despite this, SB Valley, on behalf of itself and Western Municipal Water District, submitted an application for water rights – specifically for 100,000 acre-feet of water – thereby asking the SWRCB to revise the river’s designation. This was quickly followed by a similar petition from Orange County Water District.  

In 1999, the SWRCB held hearings on the applications, where SB Valley provided evidence demonstrating that upstream urbanization and treated wastewater discharged into the river made additional water available during wet years. Furthermore, the future operation of Seven Oaks Dam would further increase the amount of water flow in the SAR. Following the hearings, the SWRCB amended the stream designation and allowed the water rights applications to move forward.  

In the early 2000s, SB Valley and Western submitted a second application to appropriate another 100,000 acre-feet of water along with updated hydrologic studies indicating that more than 200,000 acre-feet of water in the SAR was available in certain years. Prior to approval the SWRCB required demonstration that the applications met necessary obligations outlined under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Specifically, SB Valley was required to develop an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which is a detailed report assessing the potential environmental effects of proposed projects. 

In 2004, SB Valley and Western published a comprehensive EIR, which was finalized in 2007 after public comment and revisions. They included detailed information on every proposed water diversion project following the potential approval of the water rights. Following this, SWRCB held a public hearing to determine how much water is available and to consider the water rights applications from SB Valley and other districts. 

After the hearing, SWRCB approved the application from SB Valley and Western, determining there would be significant benefits to the region, including: 

• Increased water supply reliability 
• Expanded operational flexibility 
• Additional cooperative water management 
• Additional water put to beneficial use 
• Improved water quality 

SB Valley has been able to pursue multiple projects following the acquirement of the SAR water rights including: 

• Enhanced Recharge 
• Active Recharge Project 
• Devil’s Canyon and Sweetwater Basins 
• Lytle Creek Pipeline 
• Plunge Pool Pipeline 
• Cactus Basins Pipeline