An adequate water supply is critical for health and sanitation, for growing food, for parks where people can play, for a growing population, for the wonderful natural environment surrounding Tehachapi, and for numerous other beneficial uses. Water agency managers in the Greater Tehachapi Area are concerned about preserving our water for our community’s future. That is why they formed the Tehachapi Water Availability Preservation Committee and have been collaborating for nearly two decades to ensure that Tehachapi and its surrounding communities have enough water for current needs and for sustainable growth in the future.

The TWAPC consists of management level employees of each of the water providers in the Tehachapi Area. Representatives from the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District, City of Tehachapi, Golden Hills Community Services District, Bear Valley CSD, Stallion Springs CSD, California Correctional Institute, Alpine Forest Mutual Water Company, Fairview Water Company, Kern County and others, meet monthly to discuss water-related issues and to tackle common problems for the mutual benefit of the participants. Some of the agencies even have mutual-aid agreements to help each other in emergencies by sharing personnel and equipment.

TWAPC has been instrumental in addressing critical issues, such as the MTBE contamination problem at CCI, the rapid growth in water demand during the last housing boom, and the great drought of 2014. TWAPC initiated numerous important studies, such as, the Tehachapi Source Water Protection Plan, the Greater Tehachapi Area Strategic and Community Plan, the Regional Urban Water Management Plan, the Cummings Basin Groundwater Model Study (2015) and the Tehachapi Basin Groundwater Model Study (2009). TWAPC agencies participated in the Kern County Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. Recently, TWAPC initiated the effort to secure a Prop 84 grant from the Department of Water Resources. This grant will provide nearly $1.3 million for water conservation and water system improvements in the Tehachapi Area.

If you would like more information about TWAPC, please contact the current Chairman, Tyler Napier by phone at (661) 822-4078 or by email at tnapier@tehachapipw.com