In April 2001, several public water agencies in the region of San Diego County formed a committee to work toward the adoption and publication of a common set of Design Guidelines for planning and design of potable water, recycled water, raw water, and sewer facilities. The intent of this effort was to simplify and standardize project requirements for those who provide the design on projects in the geographical areas administered by these water districts. It is neither intended as nor does it establish, a legal standard for these functions. It is also the intent of this effort to reduce the cost of producing designs, save on construction costs, and improve the ability to share resources between agencies. This effort was the outgrowth of an existing Shared Resources Agreement between several of these public agencies.  

While the purpose of these Guidelines is to assure uniformity between different facilities, it is certainly not to stifle the creativity, design innovation, and ingenuity of the designer. Designers are ultimately responsible for their design efforts, and this responsibility in no way is diluted or absolved by these guidelines. The six original agencies signatory to this effort are Helix Water District, Otay Water District, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Lakeside Water District, Riverview Water District, and Sweetwater Authority. These agencies have adopted the name Water Agencies’ Standards Design Guidelines Committee (WADGC) as the entity publishing the Water Agencies’ Standards Design Guidelines (WADG), which became effective on September 7, 2004.