Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency

2009 Annual Water Quality Report

  We are very pleased to provide you with this year's Annual Water Quality Report.  We want to keep you informed about the excellent water we have delivered to you over the past year.  Our goal is, and always has been, to provide to you a safe supply of drinking water.

Our water source is the State Water Project, California Aqueduct.  The California Department of Public Health has assessed the vulnerability of this source as to possible contaminating activities.  The assessment’s description and discussion of vulnerability:

“The California Aqueduct originates at the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at Clifton Court Forebay.  Water in the Delta originates in the Sacramento River watershed, the San Joaquin watershed, and the watershed drainage from the Mokelumne River, Stanislaus River, Merced River and several smaller rivers that drain the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevadas.  Located in these drainage areas are a broad variety of potential sources of contamination including municipal, industrial and agricultural activities.  Also influencing the quality of water pumped from the Delta is the impact of the estuarial nature of the Delta and the naturally occurring salt-water intrusion which is dependent to a large extent on the inflow from the contributing rivers.

The possible contaminating activities present within the California Aqueduct watershed are described in the State Water Project Watershed Sanitary Survey conducted by the California Department of Water Resources and their consultants in 1986 and updated in 2001 and 2006. 

A copy of the complete assessment may be viewed at, Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, 6500 West Avenue N, Palmdale, CA 93551.”

If you have any questions about this report or the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, please contact Justin Livesay, Laboratory Director at 661-943-3201.  We want our valued customers to be informed about our Water Agency.  If you want to learn more, please attend any of our regularly scheduled Board meetings.  They are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month, 6:30 PM, at the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency Office, 6500 West Avenue N, Palmdale, CA, 93551.

Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency routinely monitors for contaminants in our drinking water according to Federal and State laws.  The table in this report, “2009 Annual Water Quality Report”, shows the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1^st to December 31^st, 2009. 

All drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may be reasonably expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants.  It is important to remember that the presence of these contaminants does not necessarily pose a health risk.  More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

We are proud to report that our drinking water is safe and meets or exceeds all State and Federal requirements.  We have learned through our monitoring and testing that some contaminants have been detected.  The EPA has determined that your water IS SAFE at these levels.

Total Coliform:  Water systems are required to meet a strict standard for coliform bacteria.  Coliform bacteria are usually harmless, but their presence in water can be an indication of disease-causing bacteria.  When coliform bacteria are found, special follow-up tests are done to determine if harmful bacteria are present in the water supply.  If the standard is exceeded, the water supplier must notify the public by newspaper, television or radio.

Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population.  Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections.  These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.  EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).