San Joaquin
Located at the base of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, the A.D. Edmonston Pumping Plant provides the largest lift within the California Department of Water Resources State Water Project system. DWR/2019
The San Joaquin Field Division, located in Bakersfield, serves Kern, Kings, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. The field division is responsible for the operation and maintenance of 123 miles of the California Aqueduct, as well as the Coastal Branch Aqueduct.
Four pumping plants known as the Valley String – Buena Vista, Teerink, Chrisman, and Edmonston Pumping Plants – move water over the Tehachapi Mountains and into Southern California. The Edmonston Pumping Plant, the highest single lift pumping plant in the world, lifts water nearly 2,000 feet up the Tehachapi Mountains. Water travels to the Tehachapi Crossing where it marks the end of the field division boundary before beginning its journey over the mountain range and into Southern California.
The field division also maintains and operates the Coastal Branch Aqueduct, which extends 14.8 miles, and includes nearly 100 miles of buried pipelines and five pumping plants.
Buena Vista Pumping Plant
Known as the start of the Valley String Pumping Plants, the Buena Vista Pumping Plant was constructed between 1967 to 1972 and is located on the California Aqueduct about 24 miles southwest of Bakersfield in Kern County. The plant operates in a series of sequential lifts in southern San Joaquin Valley with Teerink, Chrisman, and Edmonston Pumping Plants to convey California Aqueduct water to and across the Tehachapi Mountains. The Buena Vista plant provides the first lift from an elevation of 295.4 to 500.6 feet.
John R. Teerink Wheeler Ridge Pumping Plant
Teerink Pumping Plant is located on the California Aqueduct about 27 miles downstream from Buena Vista Pumping Plant. The plant provides the second lift from elevation 492 to 724.5 feet and furnishes water for a turnout in the reach of the aqueduct that leads to Chrisman Pumping Plant. It was constructed from 1967 to 1972.
Ira J. Chrisman Wind Gap Pumping Plant
An in-line plant, Chrisman Pumping Plant is situated on the California Aqueduct, about 1.6 miles downstream from Teerink Pumping Plant. It lifts SWP water 518 feet for its journey to Edmonston Pumping Plant. Construction took place from 1966 to 1973.
A.D. Edmonston Pumping Plant
Constructed from 1967 to 1973, Edmonston Pumping Plant is the State Water Project’s largest of the 21 pumping plants. The plant's two main discharge lines stair-step 8,400 feet up the mountain side to a 62 -foot-high, 50-foot-diameter surge tank.
The Coastal Branch Aqueduct, completed in 1997, extends from Kettleman City in Kings County to Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. It supplies water for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties through more than 100 miles of pipeline and five 7.5 megawatt capacity pumping plants.
Las Perillas Pumping Plant
Las Perillas Pumping Plant, located about one mile from the California Aqueduct, provides the first lift for delivery of SWP water from the aqueduct through the first 15 miles of the Coastal Branch. It was constructed between 1966 and 1968 as part of the Coastal Branch Aqueduct, Phase I.
Badger Hill Pumping Plant
Built as part of the Coastal Branch Aqueduct, Phase I, Badger Hill Pumping Plant is located three miles downstream from Las Perillas Pumping Plant and provides the second lift for delivery through the first 15 miles of the Coastal Branch. The plant's construction took place between 1966 and 1968.
Devil's Den Pumping Plant
Devil's Den Pumping Plant is the first in a series of three pumping plants that lift water 1,500 feet through a buried 57-inch diameter pipeline to the summit of Polonio Pass, part of the Temblor Mountain Range. The plant was constructed between 1994 and 1996 as part of the Coastal Branch Aqueduct, Phase II.
Bluestone Pumping Plant
Completed in 1996, Bluestone Pumping Plant is the second plant to sequentially lift water 1,500 feet through a buried 57-inch diameter pipeline to the summit of Polonio Pass, part of the Temblor Mountain Range. Its construction is similar to Devil's Den.
Polonio Pass Pumping Plant
Polonio Pass Pumping Plant is the third plant to sequentially lift water 1,500 feet through a buried 57-inch diameter pipeline to the summit of Polonio Pass, part of the Temblor Mountain Range. It was constructed between 1994 and 1996.