Saving water is a key sustainability initiative at the Claremont Colleges. But where does our water come from? Part of our water is imported, but part of the answer is right below us. The Claremont Colleges are located above an aquifer, a layer of rock that filters and stores groundwater. Two active wells — one on Pomona College’s North Campus, by Dialynas and Sontag halls, and one north of Baseline Road in Upland — extract that water.
Those two wells are why Pomona is the sole member of the Claremont Colleges to have rights to the Claremont area’s groundwater — called the Six Basins Area. According to Alexis Reyes, Pomona’s sustainability director, the college’s water rights mean that it owns about 1.85 percent of the water determined safe to extract each year from the Six Basins.
The wells allow Pomona to pay less for its water, and even occasionally turn a profit. Since the 1950s, Pomona has leased its two wells to the Golden State Water Company (GSWC). As part of the agreement, GSWC allows Pomona to purchase water at a below-market price.
Though the wells alone produce more than sufficient water for Pomona, according to Reyes, only 60 percent of the water purchased from GSWC is local groundwater. The other 40 percent is water imported from Northern California, which has much higher energy costs than its locally sourced alternative.
Based on data obtained from the Sustainability Office, Pomona’s 2025 water bill would have been twice as expensive — around $830,000 as opposed to the approximately $400,000 billed — if it were to pay GWSC’s typical commercial rate. The Sustainability Office was unable to share how much GWSC pays Pomona to lease its wells; still, the net amount Pomona spends on water is certainly less than it is billed. A 2007 public policy analysis thesis analyzing water policies at Pomona College found that the agreement has historically been profitable for the college.
Because of its beneficial water rights, Pomona did not prioritize reducing water usage until droughts in the 2010s. But as California officially exits drought conditions for the first time in 25 years, Pomona’s water rights uniquely situate the school to double down on sustainability efforts.
‘First in Time, First in Right’
Understanding the importance of Pomona’s water rights requires an understanding of the history of the land on which it was built.
According to Char Miller, Pomona College’s W.M. Keck professor of environmental analysis and history, there were roughly four phases of land and water management in Claremont: first, by the indigenous Tongva/Kizh people; second, by Spanish colonizers; third, by the Mexicans, who developed the rancho system and fourth, by the Americans, who arrived in the 1840s and 1850s and bought land from settlers.
When a hundred or so acres were donated to Pomona in 1887, the land included appropriative rights for water.
“The way we [historically] think about water rights in California is first in time, first in right,” explained Miller, who clarified that this phrase ironically only applied to settlers, not to the indigenous people.
Because of these rights, Pomona was able to build a water system, including wells. According to Ben Lewis, president of the Pomona Valley Protective Association, the college was a mutual water company even before the city of Claremont was incorporated in 1907.
Six Basins Adjudication & Sustainability Efforts
The Six Basins Area, which Pomona’s wells are a part of, was adjudicated in 1998. Prior to 1998, like many basins in Southern California at the time, there was no limit to how much water producers could pump. Nearby Chino Basin was pumped to the point that the ground subsided, leaving the area vulnerable to severe flooding.
“There were people who were just pumping [water] to beat the band,” said Lewis.
Suspecting that the Six Basins Area was being overpumped, GSWC, one of the main water producers, filed a complaint in court against all pumpers in the basin.
“Before [the adjudication], if you had any land above the groundwater basin, you could drill a well and pump water from it,” Carolina Sanchez, the administrator and technical consultant of the Six Basins Watermaster, said
After the adjudication, only a set group, including Pomona, which by that time had contracted its wells out to GSWC, had water rights. The adjudication also led to the establishment of the Six Basins Watermaster, a committee responsible for managing and preserving the Six Basins.
As Pomona still had water rights and a discounted rate for water, the 1998 adjudication did not affect its water purchases; Pomona used about 123 million gallons of water in 1999. According to Reyes, much of that water was directed toward Pomona’s former “Campus in A Garden” landscaping, which used many non-native, ornamental plants like azaleas and ivy to make the West Coast campus look more like an East Coast one. Intensive watering meant that Marston Quad was often too wet to sit on.
Pomona has since reduced its water usage, thanks to student and faculty-led advocacy for turf removal and drought-tolerant landscaping. These initiatives, implemented by Grounds and Facilities & Campus Services, were accelerated when the state of California required Pomona to drastically reduce its water usage during a 2014 drought. That same year, the college also adopted SAVE, a sustainability plan which sets targets for reducing water use, energy use and waste by 2030. Since 2014, water usage has been reduced by 40 percent. According to Reyes, Pomona’s current water efficiency efforts focus on expanding building-level submeters for more accurate water usage measurements. Students have been actively identifying turf removal opportunities and advocating for the usage of California native plants.
The Future of Pomona’s Water
Pomona’s wells continue to play an important role in the Claremont area. According to Sanchez, because there is now frequent rainfall, the Six Basins Watermaster is planning to allow more water to be pumped from the basins. This will decrease demand for importing water, which is energy intensive. Like many resources, water is most reliable and energy efficient when it is locally sourced.
Understanding Pomona’s approach to water can also inform other sustainability efforts. Student-led approaches that focus on both utilizing local resources and minimizing resource usage are effective. The groundwork laid by student water-saving initiatives was crucial when Pomona had to quickly reduce water usage during a drought. A similar framework can be applied to other sustainability efforts, such as Pomona’s aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Water sustainability at Pomona began with students, and students at the Claremont Colleges continue to play a crucial role in advocating for and enacting sustainability, from 5C Environmental Justice’s current Claremont Off Fossil Fuels movement to programs like the student liaison-led EcoReps.
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