Program Information SAWPA (Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority) was formed in 1968 as a planning agency, and reformed in 1972 with a mission to plan and build facilities to protect the water quality of the Santa Ana River Watershed. SAWPA is a Joint Powers Authority, classified as a Special District (government agency) in which it carries out functions useful to its member agencies. The agreements formalizing the current agency were signed in 1974 and went into effect in 1975.