MNWD 50th Anniversary E-Current Article Moulton Niguel Water District Celebrates 50 Years of Service Prior to the creation of Moulton Niguel Water District 50 years ago this month, its service area was made up of two expansive Spanish land grants: Rancho Niguel and Rancho Mission Viejo. Lacking a reliable water supply to maintain their herds, local ranchers came together on November 16, 1960 to create their own water agency – and the Moulton Niguel Water District was born. At its inception, MNWD served only eight customers. But as south Orange County’s ranch land quickly began transforming into ranch homes, local water demands dramatically changed, and the District began building new pipelines and reservoirs to help serve its new customers. Along with a reliable water supply, these new residents would need sewer service, so MNWD expanded its operations to provide wastewater treatment. In 1974, the District became one of the first water providers in Orange County to deliver recycled water for irrigation uses. This revolutionary program has saved billions of gallons of potable water over the years. The area’s population continued to grow in the 1980s,leading to large-scale service expansions that included bringing service to what would later become the City of Aliso Viejo and construction of a regional wastewater treatment facility. Despite the infrastructure expansions, the District was able to keep rates unchanged due to its fiscally conservative approach. As the 1990sbegan, MNWDincreased its focus on recycled water as a reliable new source. The District constructed a dedicated recycled water treatment facility in 1994 and in the following years extended its network of recycled water pipelines. Today, recycled water makes up 25 percent of MNWD’s water supply - a five-fold increasefrom when the District’s recycled water master plan began in the early 1990s. South Orange County’s population began to stabilize at the turn of the 21st century, enabling the District to focus on maintaining its infrastructure and providing a reliable, sustainable supply for the future. To help improve reliability in a worse-case-scenario emergency, the Board of Directors voted in 2009 to increaseMNWD’semergency storage from a 10-day supply to 31-day supply. The 266-million-gallon Upper Chiquita Reservoir and two other major emergency infrastructure projects will help enable the District to continue providing water for longer durations in the event accessto its imported supplies is cut off. MNWD’s focus on sustainable sources, emergency reliability and keeping its existing infrastructure in like-new condition didn’t go unnoticed. In 2007, Standard and Poor’s increased the District’s bond rating to an AA+, the second highest rating available. The higher rating enables MNWDto finance capital projects at lower interest rates, which will save customers millions of dollars over the next several years.
Today, Moulton Niguel Water District provides water and wastewater service to more than 167,000people in Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo and Dana Point. The District stands ready to meet the challenges of the next 50 years with the same forward thinking and innovation, as it continues delivering customers a safe and reliable water supply into the future.