News

The cities of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Fountain Valley have finalized an agreement to develop a new municipal water well that will strengthen local water reliability for residents and businesses in the years ahead. City leaders from all three communities marked the agreement with a signing ceremony on Thursday, November 6.

Under the cooperative agreement, Newport Beach will lead the project’s planning, design and construction, working with the Laguna Beach County Water District, the City of Fountain Valley and the Orange County Water District to advance a shared goal of improving regional water security.

The new well, expected to be operational by 2028, will draw water from the Orange County Groundwater Basin, which is managed by the Orange County Water District. Newport Beach City Councilmember Erik Weigand is an elected member of the water district.

“This partnership reflects a shared commitment to supporting a sustainable groundwater basin and reducing reliance on outside water sources,” said Newport Beach Mayor Joe Stapleton. “By investing in local water supply, we’re ensuring long-term reliability for future generations.”

Newport Beach, Stapleton noted, has been a long-term investor in the groundwater basin to help ensure that it remains a sustainable source in the future.

The new well, to be located at 17902 Bushard St. in Fountain Valley, will allow Newport Beach to increase its local sources and reduce reliance on imported water. Newport Beach currently draws about 85 percent of its water from groundwater and 15 percent from outside sources, primarily Northern California and the Colorado River. The new well is expected to increase Newport Beach’s use of groundwater to 100 percent, making the city fully independent from imported water.

For most of its early history Newport Beach operated water wells west of the Santa Ana River. When the last of those wells closed in 1958 the City relied solely on imported water from the Metropolitan Water District.

However, in the 1990s, the City launched its Groundwater Development Project to regain access to the basin, providing a more reliable and cost-effective local water source.

The new Bushard Street Well will be located in a productive area of the groundwater basin and near Newport Beach’s main water transmission line. The project will be jointly developed with Laguna Beach County Water District and constructed in three phases beginning in 2026.

Newport Beach has agreed to provide $20 million toward the $30 million total project cost. In time, that investment will be recaptured through savings on the lower cost of groundwater as compared to imported water.

As part of the agreement, Fountain Valley will benefit from public infrastructure improvements and payments that support local services, while Newport Beach and Laguna Beach gain additional groundwater capacity to supplement their water systems.