Technical tours are an additional fee that should be added at the time of Conference Registration submission.
Attendees may earn up to a maximum of 3.5 contact hours for each tour - or maximum of 7 contact hours if attending both tours.



Mid-Valley Pump Station & Pipeline, Palm Desert Replenishment & Wastewater Treatment Plant Tour
Tuesday, October 23 at 8 AM

This tour’s first stop will be Coachella Valley Water District’s (CVWD) mid-valley pump station where water is pumped out of the Coachella branch of the All American Canal into a 54” pipeline that runs nearly seven miles in the Whitewater River Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel to Wastewater Reclamation Plant 10 (WRP 10) in Palm Desert where it is blended with recycled wastewater to augment demand from local golf courses for irrigation. The second stop will combine two points of interest – the wastewater treatment plant where you’ll discover how wastewater is cleaned and treated to become usable for a second time by irrigating golf courses and the end of the mid-valley pipeline. Colorado River water coming into the treatment facility has a dual use in that it is also used to replenish the groundwater basin by being percolated into newly constructed ponds located between CVWD’s administration building and the treatment facility. A short drive to the Desert Willow golf course demonstrates how recycled water can be as effective as domestic water for maintaining a beautiful and lush course.

Solar, Hydro-Electric Power & Groundwater Replenishment Sustainability Tour
Wednesday, October 24 at 8 AM

Join this tour and see Desert sustainability in action. The group will travel west to Desert Water Agency (DWA) and gain an understanding of how solar power is helping reduce commercial energy demand and lower power costs. From there, the tour heads to the Metropolitan Water District’s Whitewater River turnout where you’ll see two sustainable facilities – DWA’s hydro-electric power generation station and fast-flowing water being diverted into the Whitewater River where it joins natural snow melt and flows above-ground to 19 replenishment ponds located between the windmills, covering approximately 700 acres of replenishment ponds at Windy Point. These ponds, owned and operated by CVWD, are capable of percolating approximately 1,400 acre-feet daily. See how this water can be routed to various points of entry to the replenishment ponds and how storm flows can be diverted around the ponds to prevent serious damage to equipment and the pond structures.