The Santa Fe Irrigation District (SFID) is a potable water and recycled water service provider. The California State Legislature authorized the establishment of SFID in 1923 as a California Special District under the provisions of the Irrigation District Act of 1887. SFID's service area is located in northern San Diego County and includes coastal and inland communities. SFID provides potable water service for residential, commercial, institutional and agricultural customers; and recycled water for irrigation of public common areas, golf courses, schools, businesses and Caltrans. In the early to mid 1900s, SFID supplied local water from Lake Hodges to serve agricultural irrigation needs during the early development of the area. Today, SFID provides water service to 19,800 residents in the City of Solana Beach as well as the unincorporated communities of Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch.

Special District

The Santa Fe Irrigation District is an independent special district sanctioned under the California Law for the performance of local governmental functions within specified boundaries. All Special District agencies range in size from small to very large and often cross political boundary lines, such as city and county borders, to serve a common community of interest. With SFID, and as with all Special Districts, there is a clear identification between agency name and services provided, which results in a high level of accountability and responsibility to the public, and a high degree of customer satisfaction. As such, SFID is an integral part of local government and contributes significantly to the quality of life within the communities we serve.

Service Area

SFID's service area of approximately 16 square miles is characterized by low-density urban development, including a large number of estate lots greater than three acres in size. Approximately 84% of the District's water demand is residential.

Governance

SFID is a public agency governed by a five-member publicly elected Board of Directors. These five elected officials are responsible for the District's policies and decision making. Board members are elected to staggered four-year terms by registered voters within their divisions, as defined by the Division boundary map. Regular meetings of the Board of Directors are open to the public and are held on the third Thursday of each month, 8:30 A.M., located at 5920 Linea del Cielo, Rancho Santa Fe, CA.

Committees

SFID also has three standing committees of the SFID Board of Directors that generally meet once a month:

• Administrative and Finance Committee
• Executive Committee
• Water Resources Committee

Management

The Executive Management team of SFID includes the General Manager and three department heads. The General Manager is appointed by the Board of Directors and is responsible for the planning, direction, and management of the water and recycled water activities and operations of the District. Individual department heads oversee Administration and Finance; Engineering and Planning; and Operations and Maintenance.

Facilities

SFID owns and operates a water distribution system that includes over 150 miles of pipelines, ranging from 8 inch to 36 inch diameter in size, as well as a 6 million gallon treated water storage reservoir. In addition, SFID is a joint owner (along with the San Dieguito Water District) of the R.E. Badger Water Filtration Plant, San Dieguito Reservoir, hydroelectric power plant, raw water pumping stations and nearly 8 miles of transmission pipelines up to 54 inch diameter.

Water Sources

SFID is one of twenty-three member agencies of the San Diego County Water Authority (Authority). As a member of the Authority, SFID receives imported water supplies that include Colorado River and Northern California (Bay-Delta) source water. In addition to imported water supplies, SFID has rights to local surface water from Lake Hodges. Generally, local surface water from Lake Hodges provides 30% of total supplies. SFID receives recycled water supplies, from the San Elijo Joint Powers Authority, a regional wastewater agency.