News

Olivenhain Municipal Water District turned on the tap to start providing recycled water to Surf Cup Sports, LLC. By irrigating approximately 55 acres of grass sports fields with recycled water, OMWD and Surf Cup Sports will save up to an estimated 100 million gallons of potable water per year, reducing potable water demand and improving sustainability.

Surf Cup Sports operates land owned by the City of San Diego that is used for soccer fields and equestrian activities. Activities at the Surf Cup Sports property are a major economic generator for the San Diego region, and are reliant upon a reliable source of water for irrigation. Over 200,000 youths played on Surf Cup Sports’ field the last year, with an estimated annual impact of $185 million.   

“Our mission is to provide unmatched experiences and opportunities for kids, and for us that starts with the quality of our playing surface here at Surf Sports Park,” said Brian Enge, Surf Cup Sports CEO. “The opportunity to conserve water while restoring and rejuvenating our fields made this project an easy decision for us. Water conservation is something all of us should care about and working together with OMWD and the City of San Diego to complete this project is exactly how public/private partnerships should work. We’re thrilled with the improvements.”

“It’s a win-win-win-win situation,” says OMWD Board Vice President Bob Topolovac. “OMWD reduces the region’s potable water demand, the City of San Diego’s property is provided with a drought-resilient water supply, and Surf Cup is able to irrigate with a sustainable water supply so the kids get to play on healthy fields.” 

In order to be able to serve the property with recycled water, OMWD installed a new 1,400-foot pipeline. This recycled water expansion project is part of the regional North San Diego County Regional Recycled Water Project. The Department of Water Resources has awarded the regional project nearly $5 million in Proposition 84 funding, which is administered by San Diego County Water Authority through the Integrated Regional Water Management program.

To make the conversion to recycled water, Surf Cup Sports constructed a new on-site irrigation system including a pump station, transmission pipeline, and irrigation laterals.

Surf Cup soccer fields now irrigated with recycled water