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80 Part i california Water <br />County’s Groundwater Replenishment System, a partnership between the <br />Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District, <br />which recharges the groundwater basin with highly treated, potable wastewater <br />(Groundwater Replenishment System, undated). Some parts of inland Southern <br />California have also reclaimed groundwater that was too saline or otherwise <br />contaminated for untreated use (California Department of Water Resources <br />2009).5 <br />Storage and Movement to Population and Farming Centers <br />Water is moved from wetter to drier areas through a network of rivers, canals, <br />aqueducts, and pipelines (Figure 2.6). This network of federal, state, and local <br />projects connects local water users with local and statewide water sources <br />and reflects the history of water management (Chapter 1). Although the State <br />Water Project, the Central Valley Project, and other federal projects are the <br />most extensive storage and conveyance projects supporting agricultural and <br />urban water use, major local and regional projects also store and deliver dis- <br />tant supplies to urban centers in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern <br />California. The hub of both the SWP and CVP systems, and the link between <br />Northern and Southern California, is the network of channels within the <br />Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. This conveyance hub is at significant risk of <br />failure from flood and earthquake risks to the fragile levees that surround the <br />Delta’s man-made islands, most of which now lie well below sea level (Chapter 3) <br />(Lund et al. 2010; Suddeth, Mount, and Lund 2010). <br />The state’s elaborate conveyance network is coupled with an extensive sur- <br />face water storage system, capable of storing about half the average annual <br />statewide runoff (Figure 2.6, Table 2.1). Most surface storage is located near <br />the source, far from major farming and urban centers. The state’s capacity for <br />storing water in aquifers is far greater and much of this capacity is nearer to <br />water users. <br />Surface and groundwater reservoirs have different advantages and draw- <br />backs. Surface reservoirs can fill quickly and release water fairly quickly, making <br />them flexible for water supply and flood management. But expanding surface <br />storage capacity is costly and ecologically damaging. Groundwater storage <br />5. As discussed further in Chapter 6, many local agencies are looking to recycled water as a costly, but relatively stable, <br />alternative to supplies imported from distant locations. Ocean water desalination, which relies on similar treatment <br />technologies, also is being considered in some coastal areas. In contrast to coastal areas, where wastewater reuse results <br />in a net expansion of water supplies for the region, expanding reuse of upstream wastewater to support new development <br />is likely to increase upstream net water use and reduce return flows to downstream users (Box 2.1).