Water containing wastes – aka wastewater – from residential,
commercial and industrial processes requires treatment to remove
pollutants prior to discharge. After treatment, the water is
suitable for nonconsumption (nonpotable) and even potable use.
In California, water recycling is a critical component of the
state’s efforts to use water supplies more efficiently. The state
presently recycling about 669,000 acre-feet of water per year and
has the potential to reuse an additional two million acre-feet
per year.
Non-potable uses include:
landscape and crop irrigation
stream and wetlands enhancement
industrial processes
recreational lakes, fountains and decorative ponds
toilet flushing and gray water applications
as a barrier to protect groundwater supplies
from seawater intrusion
wetland habitat creation, restoration, and maintenance
Local officials are again distributing air purifiers to
residents inundated with pollution from the Tijuana River
sewage crisis after they botched their first attempt to do so.
The first batch of 400 air purifiers distributed through a
lottery system under former District 1 Supervisor Nora Vargas
lacked the necessary filters to clean the gases in the air.
Specifically, the first purifiers lacked the necessary
potassium permanganate and charcoal to effectively filter toxic
gases. A contractor also failed to transfer applicant
information to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control
District, forcing people to reapply for the purifiers without
notification.
… Rich in biodiversity, the [Tijuana River] estuary is home
to hundreds of migratory bird species and endangered plant and
animal life. It’s also the site of a worsening
environmental crisis marked by billions of gallons of
wastewater that have spilled annually over the international
border in recent years, the byproduct of Tijuana’s urban and
industrial growth fueled in part by U.S. trade
policies. When storms sweep the region, massive downpours
collide with poor or aging wastewater infrastructure, causing
sewage overflows and dragging the waste and urban runoff
through Tijuana communities to the
border. … inewsource spent months talking to more
than 100 people living and working near the Tijuana River. Many
say this place — their longtime home — is making them
sick.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to
the Delta explores the competing uses and demands on California’s
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The 11th
edition examines this critical water hub and its myriad
challenges. The 2025 version includes the latest information
on the tunnel project, habitat restoration efforts, climate
change impacts and an updated section on the legal and political
facets of the Delta.
California has reached a major milestone in understanding the
condition of its wastewater systems with the completion of
Phase 1 of the statewide Wastewater Needs Assessment (WWNA).
Led by UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation and partners, the
effort established a first-ever comprehensive baseline
evaluation of wastewater infrastructure performance, risks, and
unmet needs—creating a foundation for more equitable sanitation
policy and investment across the state. The WWNA was
conceived to help answer a simple yet critical question: how
well are California’s thousands of wastewater systems serving
people and communities, especially disadvantaged and
underserved areas?
As Tijuana River sewage has contaminated neighborhoods in
southern San Diego County, the federal government has pledged
two-thirds of a billion to clean it up. Now local
lawmakers are calling on California to step up the fight
against cross-border pollution, and one introduced a bill this
week to revisit air quality standards for noxious gas from the
river. … The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
on Monday announced a new agreement with Mexico to plan for
wastewater infrastructure to accommodate future population
growth in Tijuana. On Wednesday State Sen. Steve Padilla
introduced a bill to update state standards for hydrogen
sulfide, a noxious gas with a rotten egg smell that’s produced
by sewage in the river.
… [Last] week, California state officials held a series of
public meetings across the county to discuss public health
responsiveness, wastewater infrastructure and U.S.-Mexico
relations related to the [Tijuana River sewage] crisis. …
Meetings ranged from Thursday’s State Senate Environmental
Quality Committee hearing in La Jolla, chaired by Sen.
Catherine Blakespear, to a three-day California Coastal
Commission meeting in Imperial Beach from Wednesday to Friday.
… Officials repeatedly discussed the so-called “hot spot” on
Saturn Boulevard, where raw sewage and industrial waste flowing
from four concrete culverts create a toxic waterfall that
aerosolizes pollutants.
California public officials, scientists and coastal advocates
rang the alarm over the continued pollution of the Tijuana
River into the Pacific Ocean and nearby communities on the
Mexican border, describing the situation as one of the worst
public health and environmental disasters in the country and
around the world. … The Thursday [California Senate
Environmental Quality Committee] hearing invited a series of
panelists to explain the multifaceted issue to the public,
including oceanographers, air pollution experts and public
health experts, among others. … It is estimated that 40
million gallons of rancid sewage are dumped into the Pacific
Ocean every day, totaling billions of gallons per year,
according to the San Diego Coastkeeper.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Mexico of posing a
“true threat” to residents of California and Texas, warning
that the country must “immediately” address cross-border water
and sewage problems. The president posted on Truth Social,
“Mexico must take care of its water and sewage problem,
IMMEDIATELY. It is a true Threat to the People of Texas,
California, and the United States of America!” The post
was accompanied by a video that says that “Mexico is sending
millions of gallons of untreated sewage water into the Tijuana
River.”
The City of Santa Barbara has released a Draft Wastewater and
Water Systems Climate Adaptation Plan the first of its kind in
California. It is seeking public comments through Feb. 10.
Jointly funded by the California Coastal Commission, California
Coastal Conservancy and the City. The plan lays out how Santa
Barbara will shield critical water and wastewater
infrastructure from rising seas, heavier storms and increased
flooding. City officials say the wastewater system is the
highest-priority risk. Heavy rain can push floodwater into
sewer pipes and manholes, overwhelming the system and causing
sanitary sewer overflows.
The contentious Central Coast Blue recycled water project is
set to move forward in a new form in Grover Beach — but the
city won’t have any control over whether it ultimately gets
approved. … Once completed, the project is intended to
take wastewater from the Pismo Beach Wastewater Treatment
facility, clean it, and inject that water back into the
Northern Cities Management Area of the Santa Maria Groundwater
Basin, which supplies the Five Cities with water. Despite
Grover Beach withdrawing from the project, officials said some
of the water treatment and then injection would still have to
happen from a new facility within the city’s limits — a move
that left some Grover Beach residents concerned.
US water and wastewater utilities navigated a year marked by
disruption and shifting federal policies. Stakeholders
navigated a maze of permitting reforms, evolving EPA guidance
on PFAS and new interpretations of the Clean Water Act after
Sackett v. EPA. For operators, the rulebook kept changing,
while costs and compliance risks continued to rise.
… With all that as backdrop, let’s look back on 2025.
We’ll dig into the shifting permitting and WRDA/IIJA landscape,
the ongoing tug-of-war over PFAS and WOTUS, Colorado River
uncertainty, the emerging water-AI connection and the growing
momentum behind collaborative delivery.
The International Boundary and Water Commission has
acknowledged that its heavily criticized $2.5 million
“nano-bubble” project in the Tijuana River was destroyed and
swept away during a recent storm. On September 9, the IBWC
launched the controversial technology, hoping it would clean up
sewage and chemical contamination in the Tijuana River, where
daily readings of gases such as hydrogen sulfide are detected.
Critics, including several politicians, scientists and
environmental groups, have said the method has not been proven
effective or safe for humans. … The federal agency
claimed it and its contractor “are evaluating the data
collected and hope to share the results of the project soon.”
A new break in a Mexican sewer line has sent raw sewage to
South Bay communities, taking a toll on residents who live by
the Tijuana River and Imperial Beach in what locals call an
ongoing “sewage saga.” Officials with the U.S. International
Boundary and Water Commission say they were working on
improvements at the Hollister and Goats pump station when a
sewage line broke in Mexico, sending 120,000 gallons of sewage
through two layers of berms and vacuum trucks all the way to
Monument Road. The line broke because of recent rain.
… The U.S. and Mexico have agreed to what they call
permanent solutions, including a $600 million expansion of the
South Bay Treatment Plant.
… Tijuana River pollution dates back to at least the 1930s,
when the U.S. and Mexican governments built the first
cross-border sewage plants. As Tijuana’s population soared with
its booming industry, the city’s waste outstripped its
treatment systems. … After decades of
deterioration, major improvements came online this year. The
South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was
barely operable, is now fully functioning and expanded its
capacity from 25 million to 35 million gallons of wastewater
per day. The project was expected to take two years, but was
completed in 100 days, according to the U.S. International
Boundary and Water Commission.
… Monterey One Water held a ribbon-cutting on Dec. 2 at its
Marina facility for a new food waste receiving and co-digestion
program that will divert up to 51,000 tons of organic food
waste from local landfills annually. … By adding a
food-waste receiving station and upgrades to existing anaerobic
digesters, Monterey One now combines food waste with wastewater
biosolids to significantly increase biogas production.
… The new infrastructure project at Monterey One Water
was made possible by a $4.2 million grant from CalRecycle.
Dr. Paula Stigler Granados, a researcher from San Diego State
University, says “without a doubt” pollution in the Tijuana
River Valley is making people sick. Her comments are based on
findings from an online survey being conducted by her and other
scientists who are studying the effects of raw sewage and other
contamination on those who live along the Tijuana River Valley,
which is polluted by effluent and chemicals that flow in from
south of the border. Studies have shown that contaminated water
that splashes on rocks or is churned by the surf in the ocean
releases dangerous gases such as hydrogen sulfide into the air.
Alter Terra, a binational environmental group, is sounding the
alarm about the need to dredge the Tijuana River channel just
inside U.S. territory to avoid massive flooding near and around
the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The group says the floor of the
channel has risen by 10 feet over the years, meaning it will
take less water for the river to crest over its levees.
… The sediment is made up of sludge from raw sewage,
dirt from construction sites, soil from Tijuana hillsides and
other materials that come in from Mexico. … The other
option is to raise the levees, which requires congressional
approval and major funding.
Deep in the heart of the Tijuana River Valley is a small
commune of growers who thrive despite being in an area that has
been described as “an environmental disaster.” The site is
known as the Tijuana River Valley Community Garden, which is
owned by the County of San Diego and managed by a private
contractor. … One concern is whether the food grown by
[grower Ed] Whited and the others is safe for consumption,
considering the amount of contamination in the area, especially
with the heavily-polluted Tijuana River next door. “Our worst
problem here is the flooding,” he said. “The river runs right
by here; if a plant is touched by water or potentially touched
by water, it’s no longer edible or considered edible and it’s a
complete loss.”
It’s been over two years since Colorado passed a law meant to
keep people from flushing wipes down toilets. But that hasn’t
fully stopped the pipe-clogging practice. Senate Bill 23-150
required disposable wipe products, like baby wipes and
antibacterial wipes, to be labeled with the phrase “Do Not
Flush”. The issue reached a head during COVID-19 lockdowns,
when more people were at home and using disposable wipes to
disinfect surfaces and packages. … Anecdotally, [Metro
Water Recovery’s chief operating officer, Liam] Cavanaugh said
they’ve seen a reduction in the number of wipes passing through
the facilities. But there’s still room for improvement.
Federal agencies released their first quarterly progress report
Friday on efforts to permanently resolve the decades-old
Tijuana River sewage crisis. … The Nov. 21 update from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S.
International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) marks the
first public progress report required under a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) signed in July between the U.S. and Mexico.
… [T]op of mind for many residents, advocates and officials
was expanding treatment capacity for the South Bay
International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which the EPA
reported is now at 35 million gallons per day capacity — up
from 25 million gallons.
ForeFront Power is celebrating the completion of a 5-MW solar
project at the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant (EWWTP) in
Vacaville, California. There is also an energy storage system
on-site, but no details on the size of the system were
released. The EWWTP system will generate nearly 8.1 million kWh
of renewable electricity annually. Designed to offset the
annual electricity demand at the EWWTP facility, the solar and
storage system is projected to save the city more than $25
million in electricity costs. … The EWWTP solar and
storage system was developed through a 20-year PPA between the
city and ForeFront Power.
As the San Diego-Tijuana region continues to get pounded by a
series of storms, a trash boom strung across the Tijuana River
channel is working flawlessly. Oscar Romo, project manager for
Alter Terra, the group responsible for the boom, says by the
time all the rain passes, the device is expected to have
stopped about 50 tons of trash from Mexico. … “That’s a
result of culture of just dumping — not always purposely done,
but the city lacks good trash collection. People are also aware
that the rain takes away the trash so previous to a rain they
dump and we get all that,” Romo said.
Imperial Beach residents are reporting noticeable improvements
in water quality and odor as federal agencies work to address
the ongoing Tijuana sewage crisis that has plagued the South
Bay community for years. … The Environmental Protection
Agency reports it is ahead of schedule on infrastructure
upgrades designed to tackle the complex pollution problem. The
agency is seriously upgrading infrastructure, including
increasing the capacity of the wastewater treatment plant near
the border. Officials have also accelerated timelines for most
infrastructure projects, cutting project completion estimates
by roughly 12 years across all initiatives.
Cities across California and the Southwest are significantly
increasing and diversifying their use of recycled wastewater as
traditional water supplies grow tighter.
The 5th edition of our Layperson’s Guide to Water Recycling
covers the latest trends and statistics on water reuse as a
strategic defense against prolonged drought and climate change.
Momentum is building for a unique
interstate deal that aims to transform wastewater from Southern
California homes and business into relief for the stressed
Colorado River. The collaborative effort to add resiliency to a
river suffering from overuse, drought and climate change is being
shaped across state lines by some of the West’s largest water
agencies.
Martha Guzman recalls those awful
days working on water and other issues as a deputy legislative
secretary for then-Gov. Jerry Brown. California was mired in a
recession and the state’s finances were deep in the red. Parks
were cut, schools were cut, programs were cut to try to balance a
troubled state budget in what she remembers as “that terrible
time.”
She now finds herself in a strikingly different position: As
administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
Region 9, she has a mandate to address water challenges across
California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii and $1 billion to help pay
for it. It is the kind of funding, she said, that is usually
spread out over a decade. Guzman called it the “absolutely
greatest opportunity.”
Innovative efforts to accelerate
restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the
benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water
agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires.
Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of
California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address
persistent challenges facing the Colorado River.
These were among the issues Western Water explored in
2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed
them.
The southern part of California’s Central Coast from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County, home to about 1.5 million people, is blessed with a pleasing Mediterranean climate and a picturesque terrain. Yet while its unique geography abounds in beauty, the area perpetually struggles with drought.
Indeed, while the rest of California breathed a sigh of relief with the return of wet weather after the severe drought of 2012–2016, places such as Santa Barbara still grappled with dry conditions.
Blasted by sun and beaten by waves,
plastic bottles and bags shed fibers and tiny flecks of
microplastic debris that litter the San Francisco Bay where they
can choke the marine life that inadvertently consumes it.
Summer is a good time to take a
break, relax and enjoy some of the great beaches, waterways and
watersheds around California and the West. We hope you’re getting
a chance to do plenty of that this July.
But in the weekly sprint through work, it’s easy to miss
some interesting nuggets you might want to read. So while we’re
taking a publishing break to work on other water articles planned
for later this year, we want to help you catch up on
Western Water stories from the first half of this year
that you might have missed.
Each day, people living on the streets and camping along waterways across California face the same struggle – finding clean drinking water and a place to wash and go to the bathroom.
Some find friendly businesses willing to help, or public restrooms and drinking water fountains. Yet for many homeless people, accessing the water and sanitation that most people take for granted remains a daily struggle.
Californians have been doing an
exceptional job
reducing their indoor water use, helping the state survive
the most recent drought when water districts were required to
meet conservation targets. With more droughts inevitable,
Californians are likely to face even greater calls to save water
in the future.
For the bulk of her career, Jayne
Harkins has devoted her energy to issues associated with the
management of the Colorado River, both with the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.
Now her career is taking a different direction. Harkins, 58, was
appointed by President Trump last August to take the helm of the
United States section of the U.S.-Mexico agency that oversees
myriad water matters between the two countries as they seek to
sustainably manage the supply and water quality of the Colorado
River, including its once-thriving Delta in Mexico, and other
rivers the two countries share. She is the first woman to be
named the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and
Water Commission for either the United States or Mexico in the
commission’s 129-year history.
Although Santa Monica may be the most aggressive Southern California water provider to wean itself from imported supplies, it is hardly the only one looking to remake its water portfolio.
In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million people, efforts are underway to dramatically slash purchases of imported water while boosting the amount from recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater cleanup and conservation. Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 announced a plan to reduce the city’s purchase of imported water from Metropolitan Water District by one-half by 2025 and to provide one-half of the city’s supply from local sources by 2035. (The city considers its Eastern Sierra supplies as imported water.)
Imported water from the Sierra
Nevada and the Colorado River built Southern California. Yet as
drought, climate change and environmental concerns render those
supplies increasingly at risk, the Southland’s cities have ramped
up their efforts to rely more on local sources and less on
imported water.
Far and away the most ambitious goal has been set by the city of
Santa Monica, which in 2014 embarked on a course to be virtually
water independent through local sources by 2023. In the 1990s,
Santa Monica was completely dependent on imported water. Now, it
derives more than 70 percent of its water locally.
In rural areas with widely dispersed houses, reliance upon a
centralized
sewer system is not practical compared to individual
wastewater treatment methods. These on-site management facilities
– or septic systems – are more commonplace given their simpler
structure, efficiency and easy maintenance.
Microplastics – plastic debris
measuring less than 5 millimeters – are an
increasing water quality concern. They enter waterways and
oceans as industrial microbeads from various consumer
products or larger plastic litter that degrades into small bits.
Microbeads have been used in exfoliating agents, cosmetic washes
and large-scale cleaning processes. Microplastics are used
pharmaceutically for efficient drug delivery to affected sites in
patients’ bodies and by textile companies to create artificial
fibers.
Microplastics disperse easily and widely throughout surface waters and sediments. UV
light, microbes and erosion degrade the tiny fragments, making
them even smaller and more difficult for wastewater treatment
plants to remove.
The particles, usually made of polyethylene or polypropylene
plastic, take thousands of years to biodegrade
naturally. It takes prohibitively high temperatures to
break microplastics down fully. Consequently, most water treatment plants cannot remove
them.
The health effects of consumption are currently under
investigation.
Responses
Many advocacy groups have published lists of products containing
microbeads to curb their purchase and pollution.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates microbeads in
industrial, but not domestic, wastewater.
Federal
law required microbeads to be phased out of rinse-off
cosmetics beginning in July 2017. Dozens of states also
regulate microbeads in products. California has the strictest
limitation, prohibiting even the use of biodegradable microbeads.
Microplastics in California Water
In 2019, the San Francisco Estuary Institute published a
study estimating that 7 trillion pieces of microplastic
enter San Francisco
Bay annually from stormwater runoff, about 300
times the amount in all wastewater treatment effluent entering
the bay.
California lawmakers in 2018 passed a package of bills to raise
awareness of the risks of microplastics and microfibers in the
marine environment and drinking water. As
directed by the legislation, the State Water Resources Control
Board in 2020 adopted an official
definition of microplastics in drinking water and in 2022
developed the world’s standardized methods for testing drinking
water for microplastics.
The water board was expected by late 2023 to begin testing
for microplastics in untreated drinking water sources tapped by
30 of the state’s largest water utilities. After two years, the
testing was expected to extend to treated tap water served
to consumers. A progress report and recommendations for
policy changes or additional research are required by the end of
2025.
Directly detecting harmful pathogens in water can be expensive,
unreliable and incredibly complicated. Fortunately, certain
organisms are known to consistently coexist with these harmful
microbes which are substantially easier to detect and culture:
coliform bacteria. These generally non-toxic organisms are
frequently used as “indicator
species,” or organisms whose presence demonstrates a
particular feature of its surrounding environment.
The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of water determines the
impact of decaying matter on species in a specific ecosystem.
Sampling for BOD tests how much oxygen is needed by bacteria to
break down the organic matter.
Point sources release pollutants from discrete conveyances, such
as a discharge pipe, and are regulated by federal and state
agencies. The main point source dischargers are factories and
sewage treatment plants, which release treated
wastewater.
This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current
state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an
overview of the geography and history of the river, historical
and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of
the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was
agreed to.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the
faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close
to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their
water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and
testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from,
how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality
are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress
Wendie Malick.
A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water:
Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems
and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to California
Wastewater is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the history of wastewater
treatment and how wastewater is collected, conveyed, treated and
disposed of today. The guide also offers case studies of
different treatment plants and their treatment processes.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
Wastewater management in California centers on the collection,
conveyance,
treatment, reuse and disposal of wastewater. This process is
conducted largely by public agencies, though there are also
private systems in places where a publicly owned treatment plant
is not feasible.
In California, wastewater treatment takes place through 100,000
miles of sanitary sewer lines and at more than 900 wastewater
treatment plants that manage the roughly 4 billion gallons of
wastewater generated in the state each day.
