San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
LAKE TO SERVE NEW PURPOSE
Lake Miramar in Scripps Ranch will store recycled water as part of region’s $5 billion Pure Water project
Lake Miramar, a longtime recreational oasis celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, is about to become a key part of San Diego’s new $5 billion Pure Water system that will boost the city’s water independence by recycling treated sewage.
The last of San Diego’s nine city reservoirs to be built, Lake Miramar attracts an estimated 100,000 people a year for jogging, biking, fishing, boating, picnicking and other activities.
“It’s a regional asset,” said Wally Wulfeck, chairman of the Scripps
Ranch Community Planning Group. “It’s amazing how much use it gets.”
While the lake is within Scripps Ranch and draws many users from that suburban community, it also attracts users from much of inland North County and the rest of the region.
Access to some parts of the lake will soon be restricted during construction of the Pure Water system, but the project will eventually boost access by increasing the size of the parking lot and making other upgrades. Scripps Ranch residents also will face some hassles while a pipeline is built through part of the community to connect Lake Miramar
with the new North City Pure Water Facility in eastern La Jolla.
That treatment plant is where the city will transform treated sewage into purified drinking water, eventually supplying one-third of San Diego’s water supply and reducing the region’s reliance on imported water.
Lake Miramar is key to the project because it is where San Diego plans to store the recycled water before sending it out to homes and businesses across the city.
Other communities that recycle sewage into water typically store the treated water underground, but San Diego’s terrain prevents that. The city requested and received a state waiver to store the recycled water above ground.
Once the Pure Water system is built, Lake Miramar will end its long history of storing water flowing south to the reservoir from both the Colorado River and the California Aqueduct.
Imported water is now pumped from the aqueduct to the reservoir before it is treated by the adjacent Miramar Water Treatment Plant and delivered to customers.
Once Pure Water is built, the lake’s water will all be recycled water from the new treatment plant in
eastern La Jolla. The water will then go through a second treatment process at the Miramar treatment plant before being distributed to homes and businesses.
In addition to recreational activities, classes of school children regularly visit the reservoir to learn about fish and biology.
Wulfeck said the lake has been popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that closures of malls and other businesses have made recreation at the lake an appealing option.
Construction of Lake Miramar and its dam were completed in 1960 as part of the second San Diego Aqueduct. The reservoir was officially dedicated on Sept. 16, 1960, a year after ground was broken for the project.
“We celebrate not only
Miramar Reservoir’s past, but the critical role it will play when the Pure Water system is completed,” said Shauna Lorance, director of Public Utilities for San Diego. “Miramar Reservoir will continue to be a key part of our water system for many years to come.”
The lake is an expansion of a small reservoir that had served the large ranch of newspaper publisher Edward W. Scripps. The $2.2 million required for the project came from an $11 million water bond approved by voters in June 1958.
When full, the reservoir covers 274 surface acres, reaches a maximum water depth of 114 feet and has 4 miles of shoreline. It has a water storage capacity of more than 6,500 acre-feet.
The earthen embankment dam has a maximum height of 165 feet measured from the downstream toe. It has a base of 1,180 feet.
The adjacent treatment plant was completed in 1962 for $3.5 million. It was significantly expanded and upgraded in 2010.
Recreational facilities, including the picnic area and boat dock, were added in the mid-1960s with nearly $400,000 from the state.
The other eight city reservoirs, in order of their construction, are Lake Morena near Campo, which opened in 1912; Lower Otay Lake near Chula Vista, which opened in 1916; Lake Hodges in southern Escondido, which opened in 1918; Barrett Lake near Jamul, which opened in 1922; El Capitan Lake near Lakeside, which opened in 1935; San Vicente Lake near Lakeside, which opened in 1943; Lake Murray in La Mesa, which opened in 1950; and Lake Sutherland in Ramona, which opened in 1954.