Santa Barbara County celebrates its first significant water recycling project at Waller Park
Santa Barbara County officials on Tuesday celebrated the completion of a project that will prevent 84 million gallons of water from being pumped every year from the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin. Officials gathered at Waller Park at 8:30 a.m. to cut a ribbon signifying the completion of the system that will use treated wastewater to irrigate the county-owned park at the southern edge of Santa Maria. Each year, the county has pumped about 84 million gallons of water — about 300,000 gallons per day — from its on-site well to irrigate the 65 acres of turf at the park, said Scott McGolpin, director of the County Public Works Department.