A flood control and groundwater recharge facility has opened in the High Desert.
The 27.4-acre Amethyst Basin project in Victorville, which took 10 years to build, was dedicated June 13, according to a statement.
All four agencies that partnered to build the project – the San Bernardino County Flood Control District, the Mojave Water Agency, the city of Victorville and the California Department of Water Resources – participated in the dedication.
The basin is designed to handle a 100-year storm. It will capture peak storm flows and release them in order to protect property and road crossings downstream from the basin, including Interstate 15.
Also, interior dikes will provide for the recharge of imported water into local groundwater basins. Those devices were provided by the flood control district and the water agency, according to the statement.