So I went to Diamond Valley Lake on Monday

[AzLakeLizard]

5 years ago I started working for my company here in Page AZ..
and my first assignment was to work on a portfolio of our "Floating Restrooms" that we have here on Powell. We designed and Built these restrooms for Diamond Valley Lake.
I remember talking about the lake and it being said that it was to be a "Drinking Water Lake".. no contact etc. That is why the extra effort was put into the special potties...

[juicy noodle]

I worked on the lake last year. Yes the speed limit is 25 (I could not bring myself to cite someone for it though, Yes I was that bored deputy once).
The inspection is a joke, they do not have a decibel meter nor does the deputy on the water. The citations that are issued are a civil cite, and not enforced in a court of law, the fines go directly to MWD, and they hear the "Trial" if you dispute. The MTBE rule is unenforcable they do not have the testing equipment. The patrol boat can only travel approximately 28 MPH (radar tested), and can not catch half the boats going faster to issue a cite.
As for the City of Hemet, I believe is suing MWD for failing to complete the several other projects promised by MWD (recreation lake camping etc..).
So the moral is MWD has done whatever they want without checks and balance.
Oh Yeah, Quagga mussel have already been found, they just will not issue a press release on it.....
The deputies out there are very nice and friendly, stop by and say hi if your out there....

[SHOCKtheMONKEY]

Yep, It is what it is.....If it opened up to everyone it'd be a big cluster **** like Perris.....that's why I go to the river

[BoatPI]

I believe that Mr. Mulhuland was one of the founders of the MWD, so yes, it has a long history.

[BrendellaJet]

I worked on the lake last year. Yes the speed limit is 25 (I could not bring myself to cite someone for it though, Yes I was that bored deputy once).
The inspection is a joke, they do not have a decibel meter nor does the deputy on the water. The citations that are issued are a civil cite, and not enforced in a court of law, the fines go directly to MWD, and they hear the "Trial" if you dispute. The MTBE rule is unenforcable they do not have the testing equipment. The patrol boat can only travel approximately 28 MPH (radar tested), and can not catch half the boats going faster to issue a cite.
As for the City of Hemet, I believe is suing MWD for failing to complete the several other projects promised by MWD (recreation lake camping etc..).
So the moral is MWD has done whatever they want without checks and balance.
Oh Yeah, Quagga mussel have already been found, they just will not issue a press release on it.....
The deputies out there are very nice and friendly, stop by and say hi if your out there....
So how do they enforce the ticket? We should get a group of 50-100 boats and go out there and stiff arm the rangers on the way in and go boating.
Oh yeah, we have to piss in the water too

[92562]

Sore spot for me too!
I have watched this lake since the first shovel hit the ground. This is not the first lake used for drinking water. Oil, gas, etc. floats on top. Everything else sinks. The water pick-ups for drinking water are 50-60 feet up from the bottom which means, clean water. Diamond Valley is twice the depth of most "drinking water" lakes. They were originally supposed to allow all kins of boating, skiing, etc. I was told that the water rights are owned by Orange County (same for Skinner and Mathews) who made the rules. Anyone else have any info?

[talkinghead]

As I recall Diamond Valley only delivers water under emergency situations.

[92562]

Correct! But for OC. Has nothing to do with those who live near/would boat on it.

[talkinghead]

I heard at one point last year that Jeff Stone (RC Sup) was trying to force MWD to meet their end of the bargain in terms of recreation.

[juicy noodle]

All of you are correct. The lake is a storage tank for mostly the OC & San Diego. However it has the ability to pump water back up stream and feed LA if needed. They release water mostly around July-September to generate power during peak times, and refill the lake during the winter months.
The rules and regs that govern the lake are voted on at MWD in Los Angeles. The people that run this lake are very liberal and have made several commitments to wildlife groups protecting teh area around the lake. For example NO vehicles are allowed to drive up to the lake after dark to protect wild life from being run over by a car. There are several very restrictive rules that govern the lake like this.
As for the tickets issued at the lake, they are CIVIL and are only enforced in a civil court (like a water bill). They have had problems with this since the start of the lake. At the time I transferred, they did not have a database in place to track issued tickets vs paid fines. I still have not heard of MWD correcting this problem.
The "Rangers" that patrol the lake are Riverside County Deputy Sheriff's, although they have a boring gig, they still are peace officers. They are a great bunch of guys and will not mess with most boaters, but don't test the water with them, might cost more than a MWD ticket.