LAKEWOOD — The state of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California is “remarkably good” despite a three-year drought, according to Albert Robles, president of the district’s board of directors.

He spoke at the regional water agency’s first state of the district report Aug. 27 at its headquarters here, saying that because of the current water crisis it is necessary for area communities to know what the district is doing.

Taking a page from President Barack Obama’s message, Robles said the area, which gets 60 percent of its drinking water from outside sources, must change to a system in which residents will be completely free of the dependence on water from the Colorado River and the Central California aqueduct, obtaining all its supply from local ground water.

To do that, long range plans call for the district, working with other water agencies in Southern California, to capture more clean water from rainfall in wet years, bring recycled water up to drinking-water quality and store surplus water in the ground until needed.

Robb Whitaker, general manager of the district, said independence might be achieved in 10 to 12 years if current efforts are successful.

Established by state voters in November 1959, the Water Replenishment District buys outside water from the Metropolitan Water District, and spreads it along the Rio Hondo River between Pico Rivera and Montebello to replenish ground water pumped to customers by city and private water providers.

The providers are charged $181.85 an acre foot based on water they have pumped. An acre foot is about 330,300 gallons.

The district serves about four million residents in 43 cities and unincorporated county areas in a 420-square-mile range covering all of southern Los Angeles County.

It is governed by five elected directors serving five districts. Robles heads Division 5, which runs from Carson to the Whittier area. Other directors are Willard Murray Jr., Division 1; Robert Katherman, Division 2; Lillian Kawasaki, Division 3; and Sergio Calderon, Division 4.

Noting that residents of the district consume about 235 billion gallons of water a year, Robles credited past conservation and recycling efforts for keeping a sufficient supply of water on hand, but said the system of importing water can’t continue because of greater demand by other states for Colorado River water and judicial restrictions placed on water pumped from Central California because of an endangered species of fish.

“We have been told we have the best tasting water in the world, but we will not rest on our laurels and will respond to the challenge to provide sufficient ground water in the future,” Robles said.

“The economic viability of [Southern] California is tied to a sufficient supply of water. It’s important that our water supply is not curtailed.”

Robles said the area cannot wait for nature to supply water as in the past, noting “we would need 20 years of above average rainfall to reach the level we had in the past.”

He said the fact that the area is making do with the current water supply is because of the economic downturn, which has resulted in less water being used. But when the economy improves, more water will be needed.

Robles said the district is helping maintain the water supply by providing 6.7 billion gallons of recycled water from a treatment facility in southeast Long Beach, for irrigation instead of using drinking water.

The district also is promoting the use of native plants which need less water and planning to store up to 150 billion gallons in the ground with state permission.

“We are in the third year of double digit increases in the cost of imported water,” Robles said. “No surface reservoirs are planned. Ground water storage is the only feasible way.”

Whitaker outlined two current programs to increase the amount of recycled water and reduce need for imported water. They are Water Independence Now, a number of water conservation projects to make replenishment more efficient; and the Ground Water Improvement Reliability Program, a partnership with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts and the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District in an effort to drought-proof the region and increase local self-sufficiency by expanding the use of highly treated recycled water for groundwater replenishment.

“These will not be inexpensive programs, but we need to look at its importance to our future. The technology exists,” Whitaker said.

Should the district seek to sell bonds to finance the recycling projects, the district has a AA-plus rating from Standard and Poor’s, Robles said.