05/28/2026
On a recent tour of our watershed, we saw snowmelt making its way down the San Antonio Creek Channel, and we decided to give you a quick look at how we capture this snowmelt, along with stormwater, and put it to use by storing it in the ground
Using the concrete channels that have replaced natural creeks and streams, we channel snowmelt, from local mountains like Mount Baldy, and stormwater runoff from local streets into a set of recharge basins, which are also called percolation basins.
How does the water get into these basins? Using tools like grates, spillways, and inflatable dams, the water can be diverted to flow into these basins. The basins look like giant holes in the ground and each basin has porous soil, meaning that water that ends up here can soak through the soil quickly.
This water that soaks into the ground can then make its way even deeper into the ground and become part of the Chino Groundwater Basin, an area underground where water is stored between rocks, sand, gravel, and silt located beneath our feet.
The Chino Groundwater Basin has been used for many years, and originally supplied farmers and ranchers with precious water for their dairy cow, grapes, and citrus crops. Today it’s actively managed by local water agencies and still supplies water for residents in several cities.
If you would like to see a more in-depth look at where water goes, let us know in the comments or visit us at cbwcd.org/our-water/
