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DWR's Newest Power House

Just outside Hesperia, a little town about 45 minutes north of the city of San Bernardino, the open canal of the California Aqueduct goes underground. From there three pipelines carry the water for about two miles before it enters DWR's newest power house, the Mojave Siphon Powerplant.

The power plant is unique among the State Water Project's eight other hydroelectric plants. It is the only one that does not receive water directly from a surface storage reservoir and the only one installed in a siphon. SWP water is siphoned from the aqueduct, flows under the Rancho Las Flores Valley floor, through Mojave Siphon Powerplant, and into Silverwood Lake.

In August 1996, the Mojave Siphon Powerplant officially went on-line to commercially produce power needed for the Project to deliver water to areas served by its contracting agencies. When all three units are running, up to 3,000 cubic feet per second of water will flow past the turbines, generating about 32 megawatts.

The plant is still experiencing growing pains and has yet to be run at full capacity, but Mojave's crew is confident that it's only a matter of time.