Diamond Valley Lake near Hemet, SoCal's largest reservoir, refilled for first time in 3 years

HEMET, Calif. (KABC) -- Following the drought-easing deluge of rainstorms that hit Southern California in recent weeks, the Metropolitan Water District announced a "major milestone'' on Monday as it began refilling the region's largest reservoir for the first time in three years.

Officials from the district -- which is the wholesaler that serves some 19 million people in six Southern California counties -- gathered with state officials at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet to announce "operational actions'' that will "maximize the amount of water stored in depleted reservoirs and groundwater basins,'' the district said.

However, there are parts of the region that can't get access to the water due to higher elevations.

MWD is hoping to address that issue with a project that will allow water to be taken out of the lake and pumped uphill. This will allow them to serve some of those communities that had to cut outdoor water use during the drought.

"We're in design, we're going to be starting construction on different elements of that project," said MWD. "In a few years, you're going to see water from DVL to be able to move north through the inland feeder near Lake Silverwood and feed a number of agencies on the east side of our system with this water."

City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.