Western Water extends Mills Gravity Line emergency ahead of January outage
Western Municipal Water District, California · Meeting date: November 4, 2026 · Published: November 5, 2026
Western Municipal Water District’s board unanimously continued an emergency declaration for repairs to the Mills Gravity Line, a key conveyance facility serving its retail area and four wholesale agencies. The utility has allocated an estimated $5 million for the work and is provisionally scheduling an outage from January 10 to January 26.
Key points
- The board voted 5-0 to continue the Mills Gravity Line emergency declaration, first adopted on June 17 under Resolution 3394.
- The estimated $5 million repair budget, approved in July, covers staff labour, design, surveying, inspection, shoring, regulatory permitting and contractor costs.
- Staff said unauthorized fill placed over a pipeline segment within Tract 31799 created concerns over structural integrity and long-term performance.
- A 16-day outage is targeted for January 10-26, subject to weather, to avoid an existing Mills plant outage and coincide with lower demand.
- The line supports Western Water’s retail area as well as Corona, Riverside, Temescal Valley Water District and Elsinore Valley Water District.
Full report
Western Municipal Water District has continued its emergency declaration for repairs to the Mills Gravity Line, retaining emergency procurement authority as it prepares for a planned 16-day outage in January on a pipeline serving both retail and wholesale customers.
The board voted 5-0 on November 4 to extend the declaration, which was first adopted on June 17 after staff identified concerns about a segment of the line within Tract 31799. Additional fill had been placed by the developer without Western Water authorisation, increasing loading on the pipeline and raising concerns about its structural integrity and long-term performance.
The Mills Gravity Line is described as an essential Western Water facility. The line supplies the district’s retail service area and wholesale agencies including the cities of Corona and Riverside, Temescal Valley Water District and Elsinore Valley Water District. Staff said shutdowns must be kept to a minimum to protect water availability.
The district is now targeting January 10-26 for the outage. Staff said the timing was selected to minimise disruption to wholesale agencies, avoid a current outage associated with the Mills plant, and take advantage of lower demand. The dates could shift depending on weather conditions. Staff said construction can proceed during rain, although work would pause in extreme rain for safety reasons.
At its July 15 meeting, the board approved a $5 million budget allocation for the emergency repair following a preliminary assessment and review of remedial options. The estimate includes staff labour, consultant services for design, surveying, inspection, shoring and regulatory permitting, as well as contractor costs. Funding will be advanced first from the Mills Gravity Line Fund and, if needed, the General Fund; Western Water said it will seek reimbursement through claims against appropriate parties.
Under California Public Contract Code Section 22050, the board must review an emergency declaration at every regular meeting until emergency action is no longer required. The continued declaration allows the utility to proceed with the required repair work without interruption.
This summary was generated by AI based on the source document and may contain errors.
Source: Board of Directors Meetings - Regular Board Meeting, Western Municipal Water District