SAN FERNANDO BASIN
The San Fernando Basin, the largest of the four basins, consists of 112,000 acres and comprises 91.2 percent of the total valley fill in ULARA. It is bounded on the east and northeast by the San Rafael Hills, Verdugo Mountains, and San Gabriel Mountains; on the north by the San Gabriel Mountains and the eroded south limb of the Little Tujunga Syncline which separates it from the Sylmar Basin; on the northwest and west by the Santa Susana Mountains and Simi Hills; and on the south by the Santa Monica Mountains.
NATIVE WATER
Los Angeles, under its Pueblo Water Right, has an exclusive right to extract and utilize the entire native safe yield of the San Fernando Basin (SFB) of43,660 acre-feet per year (AF/Y).
IMPORT RETURN WATER
Los Angeles, Burbank, and Glendale each have a right to extract the following amounts of groundwater from the SFB:
- Los Angeles: 20.8 percent of all delivered water, including recycled water, to valley fill lands of the SFB.
- Burbank: 20.0 percent of all delivered water, including recycled water, to the SFB and its tributary hill and mountain areas.
- Glendale: 20.0 percent of all delivered water, including recycled water, to the SFB and its tributary hill and mountain areas.
PHYSICAL SOLUTION WATER
Several additional smaller, but private, parties are granted a limited entitlement to extract groundwater chargeable to the rights of others upon payment of specified charges. STORED WATER
Los Angeles, Burbank, and Glendale each have a right to store groundwater in SFB by artificial spreading or by in-lieu activities, and to extract equivalent amounts.
Groundwater levels in the SFB have undergone a general decline during recent years. Probable causes of this decline include increased urbanization and runoff leaving the basin, reduced artifical recharge, and continued groundwater extractions by the three major pumping parties in the SFB - the cities of Los Angeles, Burbank, and Glendale. The Watermaster continues to monitor this situation, and efforts to reverse this trend are underway. The long-term solution will require the close cooperation of the three major pumping parties.
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