Loveland Reservoir water transfer at 21% but coming to an end, SWA says

Photo of Loveland Reservoir by Ostan Patton

By Karen Pearlman

Dec. 9, 2025 (Alpine) – Sweetwater Authority’s plan to leave Loveland Reservoir with at least 25 percent of its water capacity during the most recent transfer of water into the Sweetwater Reservoir has not gone as originally planned, as shared with East County Magazine on Dec. 5.

Sweetwater Authority (SWA), the special district that oversees Loveland Reservoir and Sweetwater Reservoir as well as the Sweetwater Dam, reports on its website that the reservoir has dipped down to 21.2 percent of total capacity (as of 8 a.m. Dec. 9) before the water transfer was stopped just after 3:30 p.m. Dec. 9.

SWA manages local water from Sweetwater and Loveland reservoirs, pumps from aquifers like the San Diego Formation and uses a desalination plant for brackish river water.

Located in Alpine, the Loveland Reservoir has been steadily dropping from its 63 percent capacity in mid-November, as water transfers continue with water flowing downstream to serve drinking water customers in Chula Vista, National City and Bonita.

Loveland Reservoir has a capacity of 25,400 acre feet. Its dam is 203 feet high and 765 feet wide, and was completed in 1945. Loveland Reservoir serves as a holding area for water which is released to Sweetwater Dam. It's also a popular recreation area for people who hike, fish and bird watch.

Angel Marquez, public affairs manager for the district, said that SWA shut off the valve that drains Loveland Reservoir at about 3:41 p.m. on Dec. 9

Marquez said there was no intent by SWA leadership to mislead the community and the plan for 25 percent of capacity “had been based on the information that I was working with.”

Last week, SWA said that it would transfer water until it reached an intended goal of about 10,000 acre feet of water. One acre foot of water is equal to just under 326,000 gallons of water.

“We had anticipated (25 percent), based on calculations but I got confirmation that we’re going to go ahead and shut off the transfer and close the valve,” Marquez said. “Today (Dec. 9) would be the last day that we transfer.”

Karen Wood, who heads the nonprofit Friends of the Loveland Reservoir, said she expects the percent of total capacity to dip into the teens when the next readings are available tomorrow.

Loveland Reservoir’s total change from Dec. 8 to Dec. 9 was -2.2 percent.

Fishing program in peril

Wood said the impact from its low capacity means that the fishing program at the reservoir is doomed for the rest of the year unless there is a rainstorm, which is unlikely with La Niña predictions for this winter. Marquez said the fishing dock at Loveland has been moved. The dock was ruined during the last major draining back in 2022.

La Niña is a weather phenomenon characterized by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can cause a variety of effects, including wetter conditions in the Pacific Northwest and drier, warmer conditions in the southern U.S. during winter.

Meteorologists say that La Niña conditions are expected to be in place for the county during the winter of 2025-26, likely bringing a drier-than-normal season. Forecasters with the Climate Prediction Center anticipate La Niña will likely continue through at least the early part of the winter and could persist into the spring.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast a higher probability of below-normal precipitation for Southern California, along with warmer-than-normal temperatures for the season.

Marquez said that SWA offers those it serves some of the lowest water prices in San Diego County, in part because of its reservoirs, which means less dependency on outside water sources.

SWA gets its water from a mix of local and imported sources, primarily using the Sweetwater River's reservoirs, deep groundwater wells -- freshwater and desalinated brackish -- and about 30 percent from imported water via the Colorado River/State Water Project), and aims for 70 percent local supply to keep its costs lower.

The SWA governing board will be meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 10, and Wood said she plans to be at the meeting virtually and speak out, and said others in the community who are concerned about Loveland, would also be in attendance.

Wood has previously shared how SWA in the 1990s established a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to provide public fishing access at Loveland Reservoir.

In exchange for a parcel of land near the reservoir previously owned by the U.S. government, SWA purchased 1,550 acres of land for $2.65 million near Descanso and provided that to the National Forest System. The exchange included a recreating easement extending between 3½ and 5 miles of shoreline access from sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year, and the ability to have shoreline fishing.

At the Dec. 10 board meeting, Wood said, she will address the transfer that has brought it close to the 20 percent capacity mark.

“I will be making a statement, and what I’d like to tell them is ‘Stop using Loveland as your piggy bank,’” Wood said. “They have an obligation to the people of the East County for a fishing easement and draining the lake this low violates that easement.”

More folks weighing in

Russell Walsh, who has been a voice for the reservoir for decades, said he believes that the devastation of the water drainage at Loveland Reservoir is more than just a natural loss.

"It’s a human one, born of an epidemic of default and choices that valued image and convenience over stewardship and community trust," Walsh said. "It’s heartbreaking to see groups that once claimed to protect this place trade integrity for visibility, even as our fishing program -- and the fragile ecology sustained by reasonable water levels -- collapse again."

Walsh has met with state legislators in Sacramento to speak on behalf of water issues in East County.