Riverbank is looking at upgrading its sewage plant to produce
water clean enough for crops. The city would join three others
in Stanislaus County that recycle water from kitchen and
bathroom drains for use on farms. Modesto, Ceres and Turlock
send their highly treated effluent to the Del Puerto Water
District on the West Side. Riverbank would sell its water to
farmers just to the north, possibly including some in the South
San Joaquin Irrigation District.
Using drinking water to keep our parks luscious and green isn’t
uncommon in San Francisco, but it’s something the city is
working to change. Golden Gate Park currently uses its own
groundwater wells to irrigate the park, which has water quality
permitted for drinking water standards. The Panhandle uses
water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
(SFPUC). By summer 2022, barring any delays, the water used for
irrigation and lake fill would instead come from a recycled
water system that’s currently under construction to replace the
current watering system.
The San Elijo Joint Powers Authority’s water reclamation
facility near San Elijo Lagoon on Manchester Avenue in
Encinitas was named “Plant of the Year” by the California Water
Environment Association, the agency announced today. The award
recognizes accomplishments in compliance, innovative practices,
cost-effectiveness and superior plant performance amongst
wastewater agencies across California.
When Donald Trump referred to the COVID pandemic as a “plague,”
he was implying that it was an act of God that couldn’t be
blamed on the government. We are now told that the acute water
shortage in California is the result of a “drought” that has,
once again, lead to water restrictions. This biblical term
obscures the responsibility that our local governments bear for
this crisis. Countries facing far harsher climates and much
scarcer water supply, like Israel, have adopted straightforward
policies to avoid such crises. We should learn from their
example. -Written by Ron E. Hassner, the Helen Diller
Family chair in Israel Studies and the co-director of the Helen
Diller Institute for Israel Studies at U.C. Berkeley.
A long-planned water recycling project for the Five Cities area
— Central Coast Blue — hangs in uncertainty after the City of
Arroyo Grande unanimously voted on June 8th to withdraw from
the project unless their demand for a shared operating
agreement is met. Central Coast Blue, spearheaded by the City
of Pismo Beach, is a multi-million dollar project set to bring
a reliable water source to the Five Cities area by using
recycled water.
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee last week marked up and advanced H.R.
1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of
2021. … By 2035, the City of Los Angeles expects to
recycle 100 percent of its water supplies and reduce its
reliance on costly imported water from the Colorado
River. Truckee Meadows Water Authority in Reno is planning
13-mile pipeline to provide 1.3 billion gallons of recycled
water annually to the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, home to
Tesla, Switch and Google, and ensure 20,000 jobs remain in
Nevada.
Restoration implies returning to a prior state. A broken cup
carefully glued, might appear nearly as whole as the original,
but will always differ from the original. Ecosystem
restoration attempts to return an evolving web of
interconnected species and physical processes to a prior state.
This endeavor raises complex questions: what prior state should
be the restoration target?
Building on its long history of innovation and research
initiatives, the Orange County Water District (OCWD; the
District) recently received a $100,000 grant from the Southern
California Salinity Coalition (SCSC) to study ways to expand
water reuse and further improve water quality. An 18-month
pilot study will evaluate the feasibility of flow-reversal
reverse osmosis (FR-RO) for municipal potable reuse at OCWD.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is
helping advance two local supply projects that will further
diversify and strengthen the region’s water reliability, under
two agreements approved Tuesday by the district’s board of
directors. The board approved an agreement with the Municipal
Water District of Orange County and the Santa Margarita Water
District to provide funding for a recycled water project.
When a historic drought gripped California and the Bay Area,
water managers came together to keep drinkable water in the
homes of vulnerable areas in Marin and Contra Costa Counties.
Two veterans of those efforts describe the dramatic process,
and consider lessons it offers for today’s imminent drought.
The most important thing to understand: If you’re reading this,
you live in a desert. And you can live in this desert because
politicians, scientists and engineers have moved mountains,
almost literally, to bring you life-giving water. The latest
brawl in Water World plays out on this backdrop, and what comes
out of your tap may well depend on the result. Will it come
from recycled waste water? Desalination plants? A giant tunnel
or two under the Delta? The answers will, in large part, depend
on who’s chosen to lead the gargantuan Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California, which provides water to 19
million people from Ventura County to the Mexican border.
As a result of a lawsuit settlement with the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC) for not submitting water conservation
reports required by the state for three consecutive years, the
City of Chino Hills has begun filing annual reports on its
website. Beginning March 30, the city also began posting the
annual volumes of potable (drinking) water and recycled water
used by city facilities. The water usage posted for the 2019-20
fiscal year shows the city used 778 acre-feet of potable water
and 243 acre-feet of recycled water for a total of 1021
acre-feet.
Facing extended drought, diminishing snowpack, and depleted
aquifers, California water managers face a harsh reality: our
20th century water systems – essentially linear designs in
which fresh water is extracted, centrally treated, distributed
to users, returned as wastewater, and finally treated and
discarded – are breaking down. Although this approach has
served us well for decades, we can no longer sustain ourselves
with a paradigm that uses water once and throws it away. -Written by Peter Fiske, a scientist at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and executive director of
the Department of Energy’s National Alliance for Water
Innovation.
Suffering through a prolonged dry period, utilities are
increasingly relying on sewage to generate the state’s water
needs. Known in industry parlance as “recycled wastewater”
and in lay terms as “toilet to tap,” this water source
understandably triggers a gag reflex in some consumers — but it
shouldn’t. Recycled wastewater is quickly becoming the
single most important element of a drought-proof water supply
in the climate-change era, and it happens to be as pure and
delicious as anything you might buy bottled from the Swiss
Alps.
East Bay Municipal Utility District officials have seen
droughts come and go. But they seem to be coming more
frequently this century. Climate change is stoking devastating
wildfire seasons year after year, drying the state out and just
making it more flammable the following year. State water
officials say that means less water in the Mokelumne River
Watershed, the main source for EBMUD and its 1.4 million
customers. Last winter was the state’s driest since 1977,
prompting the district to officially declare a stage one
drought on April 27 and ask customers to cut ten percent of
their water use. What can the East Bay expect moving forward?
Twenty years ago, in the 2001 Los Angeles mayoral race, a topic
usually seen as dull became the most lurid issue of the
campaign. The topic was water recycling, and we are still being
hurt by the rhetoric from that election today. Candidate Joel
Wachs, a longtime member of the City Council, didn’t even make
the runoff that year. But during the primary he alarmed voters
across the city by insisting that Los Angeles was furtively
planning to pipe recycled sewage to millions of unsuspecting
Angelenos — without, according to Wachs, adequate public input
or scientific research. The recycling idea became widely known
as “toilet to tap” … -Written by Marc Haefele, a Santa Monica freelance
writer.
You can’t water your lawn more than twice a week in the city or
Sacramento during summer, and never on Thursday or
Friday. For thousands of Sacramento County residents, the
limit is three days a week. In Roseville, there’s no watering
between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Customers of the San Juan Water
District have five days to fix leaks, and hosing down the
driveway or sidewalk is off-limits in Elk Grove. Long
before Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought
emergency for the Sacramento region — and much of the rest
of California — area residents were already dealing with an
assortment of restrictions on water consumption, depending on
their supplier.
San Diego takes droughts very seriously. That’s why the region
is well-positioned to weather an extended dry spell with enough
water. Local officials don’t shrug at the drought
conditions across the state that have triggered emergencies in
a couple of northern counties. For one thing, the wildfire
threat can be as dangerous here as anywhere. San Diego may
be more drought-tolerant than in the past when it comes to
water…
Water customers with the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency
can expect rate increases to kick in over the next five years,
after board members voted in late April to approve the fees.
The PVWMA serves coastal growers and farmers in south Santa
Cruz and north Monterey counties through 21 miles of water
pipelines running near Highway 1. The water, which is a blend
of recycled water, groundwater and Harkins Slough Recovery well
water, supplements farmer’s on-site agricultural wells.
At its next meeting Wednesday, the Ukiah City Council will
consider a recommendation to spend more than $175,000 on a
system to help control algae in its recycled water system, also
called the Purple Pipe. According to the staff report prepared
for the May 5 meeting, “due to high nutrient content and local
climate, the water quality of recycled water within the storage
reservoirs can become negatively impacted by algal blooms.
Algae can become problematic once it is in the distribution
system and lead to clogging of filters or irrigation
equipment.”
Increasingly ominous signs suggest that we are entering another
multiyear drought in California. The State Water Project
recently reduced projected water deliveries for 2021 from 10
percent of requested supplies to 5 percent, and on April 21,
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a regional drought emergency in the
Russian River watershed in Northern California. But it’s a
different story in San Diego County.
-Written by Gary Croucher, chair of the San Diego County
Water Authority’s Board of Directors.
Attorneys for the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
filed a complaint with state regulators Tuesday asking that
California American Water Co. be forced to purchase water from
the expansion of a recycling project because Cal Am is failing
to meet a deadline for its part in increasing the local water
supply, according to language in the complaint. Any decision by
regulators is important because it will affect the ability of
the Monterey Peninsula to generate an alternative water source.
Cal Am in 2009 was hit with a state cease-and-desist order to
stop over-pumping from the Carmel River basin.
Monterey One Water officials on Monday moved closer to its goal
of providing additional water for the Monterey Peninsula when
it unanimously approved a key environmental report for its
expansion project. The 10 members of the board of Monterey One
Water all voted to approve an environmental document called a
supplemental environmental impact report, or SEIR, that
advances closer to the expansion of its regional treatment
plant. … Monday’s action allows Monterey One to move
closer to expanding its treatment facility — Pure Water
Monterey — to increase the amount of treated water reintroduced
to groundwater and consequently dramatically increase the
Peninsula’s supply.
Corn is America’s top agricultural crop, and also one of its
most wasteful. About half the harvest—stalks, leaves, husks,
and cobs— remains as waste after the kernels have been stripped
from the cobs. These leftovers, known as corn stover, have few
commercial or industrial uses aside from burning. A new paper
by engineers at UC Riverside describes an energy-efficient way
to put corn stover back into the economy by transforming it
into activated carbon for use in water treatment.
Worms are helping a [San Joaquin] Valley winery on its path to
becoming more green. Olympic-sized swimming pools at O’Neill
Winery are actually beds filled with worms helping the company
become greener. … The technology allows the company to
take about 80 million gallons of processed water and clean
it. O’Neill Winery is the seventh-largest winery in
California. They produce wines and spirits sold around the
United States.
California’s continuing failure to adopt a comprehensive water
strategy is exacerbating its looming drought crisis. For nearly
two decades, the state has put its focus on dam projects and
the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta tunnel fiasco. The
primary aim is creating new ways of diverting additional water
to Central Valley farmers at the expense of the fragile,
over-tapped Delta, which supplies about one-third of the Bay
Area’s fresh water supply. There’s a better approach. President
Biden’s infrastructure plan calls for $50 billion to ease the
West’s drought crisis by heavily investing in water efficiency
and recycling programs.
A committee for the Monterey One Water Board has recommended
final certification of an environmental report crucial to the
expansion of Pure Water Monterey, signaling increased momentum
for the recycled water project. The five-member Recycled
Water Committee of the Monterey One Water Board of Directors
voted 4-0-1 on April 15 to recommend the board of directors
certify the completed supplemental environmental impact report,
or SEIR, needed for the expansion.
No country is immune from water scarcity issues — not even the
world’s wealthiest country, the United States. The southwestern
states, in particular, have faced frequent and ongoing droughts
over the past two decades, and traditional water supplies are
failing. … Our existing water supplies must go
further, and the technology exists to make this happen — by
turning wastewater into drinking water.
The Goleta Water District on Tuesday will discuss a resolution
to enroll the district in an initiative program and to execute
agreements with Tesla, Inc., for battery systems at the Corona
Del Mar Water Treatment Plant and Ellwood Reservoir. Under the
proposed agreement, Tesla would design, furnish, install,
operate and maintain the battery systems through the California
Public Utilities Commission Self-Generation Incentive Program.
… The two battery systems, estimated to be currently
worth approximately $1 million, will be owned by the district
and provide emergency backup power during electrical outages
and PSPS events, including approximately seven hours for
Ellwood Reservoir and 8.3 hours for CDMWTP.
ACWA staff testified with a support-if-amended position on AB
1500 (E.Garcia) during an Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife
Committee hearing on April 8. The bill is one of two climate
resilience bond proposals that are currently advancing through
the state Legislature and could be headed for the June 2022
ballot. AB 1500 would create a $6.7 billion bond measure. ACWA,
with input from the State Legislative Committee’s Bond Working
Group, is requesting amendments to the bills to add funding for
water-related climate resilience projects that help provide a
reliable water supply during drought and flood. The amendments
propose the bill include funding for conveyance, dam safety,
groundwater protection and sustainable groundwater management,
flood management, integrated regional water management and safe
drinking water for disadvantaged communities, as well as water
quality and water reuse and recycling.
A $230,000 revision of the Pure Water Monterey expansion
project’s environmental review document will move forward after
the Monterey One Water board approved the work earlier this
week. At the same time, board members backing the study
revision made it clear they wouldn’t support approving the
recycled water expansion proposal itself until an outside
funding source is available. On Monday, the Monterey One Water
board voted 7-3 to approve the work needed to update a
supplemental environmental impact report for the expansion
proposal, including consultant contracts and a cost-sharing
agreement with the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District
whose board agreed last month to cover most of the revision’s
cost.
Now that his massive coronavirus relief package is law,
President Joe Biden is laying out his next big proposal: A
roughly $2 trillion plan for improving the nation’s
infrastructure … Biden’s plan allocates $111
billion to rebuild the country’s water infrastructure. It
would replace all of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines
in order to improve the health of American children and
communities of color. The White House says replacing the pipes
would reduce lead exposure in 400,000 schools and childcare
facilities. The proposal would upgrade the country’s
drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems, tackle new
contaminants and support clean water infrastructure in rural
parts of the country.
For the last seven years, Lomita resident Brenda Stephens has
been advocating for better, locally sourced tap water.
… Following a long history of water quality issues, plus
the detection of benzene in 2019, the city of
Lomita’s Cypress Water Production Facility has remained
offline. The city currently outsources its water supply. For
Stephens, it’s been a break from water issues. … In late
2019, Stephens and other Lomita residents took part in a CWPF
tour that showcased how a new filtration system will
alleviate the city’s locally-sourced water problems and bring
the facility back online, safely. The city of Lomita received
a $2 million grant from the Water Replenishment
District’s Safe Drinking Water program.
Padre Dam Water District wants to keep everyone in the loop
about its massive sewage reclamation project, especially the
city where the project is located — Santee. At its March 24
virtual meeting, the Santee City Council approved a legal
agreement to work collaboratively with the joint powers
authority that is overseeing the nearly $700 million program
called Advanced Water Purification. … The Advanced Water
Purification project got going in 2014 and is similar to
several other water reclamation projects in the state,
including one being built by the city of San Diego called Pure
Water.
ACWA-sponsored SB 323 (Caballero) passed out of the Senate
Government and Finance Committee on March 25, following a
hearing in which ACWA staff and members testified in
support….The bill would improve financial stability for
public agencies by creating a 120-day statute of limitations
for legal challenges to water and sewer service rates. It comes
as water and wastewater agencies have faced increased
litigation from ratepayers over whether agency rates comply
with Proposition 218 and other existing laws.
A water project that would generate revenue, make wise use of
reclaimed water and preserve large tracts of open space in the
city of San Luis Obispo was first made public over 10 years
ago. Since then, the city has made no progress on the proposal
to allow Edna Valley landowners to reuse some of the city’s
treated wastewater to irrigate vineyards and other agricultural
crops. Surplus water already could be assisting growers in Edna
Valley, which is an important part of the city’s
greenbelt.
– Written by Neil Havlik, who served as San Luis
Obispo’s natural resources manager from 1996 to 2012.
Two East County water agencies plan to reduce future water
rates by using millions of dollars they received from the
County Water Authority as part of a legal settlement. The Water
Authority announced a plan Feb. 25 to distribute $44.4 million
to its 24-member agencies — including the Helix Water District
and Padre Dam Municipal Water District — after receiving a
check for that amount from the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California. A San Francisco Superior Court ruled in
favor of the Water Authority in January in two lawsuits against
Metro challenging rates and charges. The money is for legal
damages and interest from the decade-long rate cases.
The Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District completed
construction this week on an expansion of its water recycling
system, increasing the district’s recycled water production
capacity nearly fourfold. …The expanded system allows the
district to treat roughly 5.4 million gallons of recycled water
per day at its headquarters at 300 Smith Ranch Road in San
Rafael. That’s up from the district’s previous capacity of 1.4
million daily gallons.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards
totaling $27.5 million for 16 water infrastructure projects.
Modern technology has the potential to reduce energy use in
aging water infrastructure, particularly in wastewater
treatment, which demands up to 2% of domestic electricity use
each year. These projects, operating in 13 states, have the
potential to reduce carbon emissions and water-treatment costs
while improving water quality and equity of distribution
nationwide. … They are based out of California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and
Virginia.
In an effort to address drought and increase local groundwater
supply, the Santa Clara County Valley Water District is
fast-tracking a plan to purify and recycle more water in San
Jose. … But city elected leaders — concerned for the
environment and limited staff resources due to COVID-19 — are
pumping the brakes and want more time to negotiate.
Councilmembers met Friday with Valley Water’s board of
directors for a special meeting to hash out the issue.
Witnessing the devastating effects of drought in rural
California and India at the age of 11 spurred Shreya
Ramachandran to action. She devoted years to researching the
reuse of grey water—lightly used water from sinks, showers, and
laundry—and painstakingly tested the environmental safety of
organic detergents. The nonprofit Ramachandran founded, the
Grey Water Project, has inspired thousands of people to build
their own “laundry to lawn” grey water systems. Now a high
school senior, she’s collaborated with several California water
agencies and the United Nations Global Wastewater Initiative,
and created a grey water curriculum for elementary students to
show them that small actions can make a big difference.
Acting in advance of its Pure Water Monterey expansion project
partner, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District board
has agreed to spend an additional $180,000 on updating the
project’s environmental document and source water analysis for
the proposal. On Monday, the water district board voted
7-0 to spend $181,125 on work to update the recycled water
expansion project’s supplemental environmental impact report
and conduct source water modeling in an attempt to address an
issue that has drawn heavy criticism and opposition.
The construction of 8 miles of water pipeline that will be
integral to the Pure Water Soquel project, was approved by
Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors this week. The
Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin, from which at least
50,000 residents depend on for drinking water, has been deemed
critically depleted by the state. Years of intensive pumping
for agriculture and drinking water has drawn out more water
from the aquifer than is being replenished naturally by
rainwater. That’s led to seawater seeping into underground
storage and wells. The Pure Water project aims to bolster
groundwater levels in the aquifer, and prevent seawater
contamination, which has already been detected in some areas.
I’ve been writing a lot about the broken sewage system in
Tijuana causing spills into San Diego. Part of the concern, San
Diego officials told me, is that Mexico lacks a system to
monitor whether businesses are dumping toxic waste into the
sewer system. That’s part of the reason why it’s risky to reuse
any of that river water because, if we don’t know what’s in the
water, we can’t be sure how to best treat it. San Diego is
about to run into this issue in a big way with its Pure Water
project, a multibillion-dollar system that’s going to recycle
the city’s sewage and treat it so, well, you can drink
it.
Climate change and other environmental pressures are already
putting the pinch on water resources in California, the
Southwest and other arid parts of the world. Over-tapped
groundwater, rivers and lakes are forcing water managers to
find new supplies. Some of these can be costly, like treating
wastewater for drinking water. Or they can come with a hefty
price tag and outsized environmental footprint, like
desalination or new dams. There’s another option on the
table, though: stormwater. If we do the accounting right,
runoff from precipitation is a cost-effective supplementary
water resource, experts say.
The massive COVID-19 relief bill Congress approved Wednesday
will pump more than $150 billion into California’s economy,
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration said Wednesday, including a
$26 billion windfall for the state’s already burgeoning budget
surplus. … [The U.S. Treasury Department has told state
governments] they can use the money to respond to the public
health emergency, provide government services or invest in
water, sewer or broadband infrastructure.
A newly constituted Monterey One Water board plans to consider
whether to move forward with an environmental impact report for
the previously stalled Pure Water Monterey expansion proposal.
Last month, the board unanimously agreed to direct agency staff
to prepare a report on the cost and timeline for reviving the
supplemental EIR for the board’s consideration at its March 29
meeting. The board would presumably decide whether to actually
go ahead with the work to update the document for potential
certification.
San Diego is ready to start building the long-awaited Pure
Water sewage recycling system, now that city officials have
resolved litigation that delayed the project 18 months and
increased its estimated cost to $5 billion, city officials say.
Pure Water will boost San Diego’s water independence by
recycling 83 million gallons of treated sewage into potable
drinking water by 2035.
On a Saturday in late October, Carolyn Phinney is hip-deep in a
half-acre of vegetables, at the nucleus of what will one day be
15 acres of productive farmland. … The patch is a wealth of
herbs, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, kale, winter squash, and
zucchini. So much zucchini—fruits the size of bowling pins
hidden under leaves as big as umbrellas. “Zucchini plants are
supposed to be 30 inches across. Ours are 8 feet,” she says.
“Everything looks like it’s on steroids.” Phinney is the farmer
behind CoCo San Sustainable Farm of Martinez,
California, a farm built on reclaimed land, using reclaimed
water, and started with a simple mission: to get kids to eat
more vegetables.
Monterey One Water just celebrated the one-year anniversary of
delivering recycled wastewater via the Pure Water Monterey
project. The advanced filtration system is used on treated
sewage water, which is then injected deep underground where the
new supply will be mixed with the existing water supply.
Even before phase one of the Pure Water Monterey project was
online, the board of M1W began debating an expansion of the
project. But that expansion has been on ice for months, after
the M1W board voted 11-10 (on a weighted vote) in April of 2020
not to proceed. It’s about to come back.
Caught between climate change and multi-year droughts,
California communities are tapping groundwater and siphoning
surface water at unsustainable rates. As this year’s
below-average rainfall accentuates the problem, a
public-private partnership in the Monterey/Salinas region has
created a novel water recycling program that could serve as a
model for parched communities everywhere.
San Juan Bautista made progress on its water compliance
projects on Feb. 16 as the City Council unanimously approved
contracts for moving wastewater out of the city, financing, and
a formalized agreement with the San Benito County Water
District to provide water. On Oct. 15, the city opted to
send its wastewater to the Hollister Wastewater Treatment Plant
and to acquire potable water from San Benito County Water
District’s West Hills Water Treatment Plant.
The state of California has changed its sea level rise guidance
for state agencies and coastal communities, now advising in new
“Principles for Aligned State Action” that Californians employ
a single sea level rise target — plan for 3.5 feet by 2050 — as
opposed to the more flexible approach the state used in the
past. But this single sea level rise number does not represent
the best available science and could make California less
resilient to climate change.
–Written by Robert Lempert, a senior scientist at
the RAND Corp. and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, and David Behar, climate program director at
the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and co-chair of
the World Climate Research Programme’s Sea Level Rise Grand
Challenge Committee.
In its 25-year plan ensuring the San Diego region has enough
water to go around, the county’s largest water provider didn’t
appear to take the region’s biggest water recycling project to
date very seriously, at least at first. Emails between the San
Diego County Water Authority staff and city of San Diego
officials show the city had to argue for the second and biggest
phase of its Pure Water program to be considered a realistic
future source of drinking water.
The Long Beach Water Department approved an agreement this
month to acquire two properties near an existing well site in
West Long Beach as it aims to build a new potable water
treatment facility that would treat groundwater there.
In the five years since Colorado’s Water Plan took effect, the
state has awarded nearly $500 million in loans and grants for
water projects, cities have enacted strict drought plans,
communities have written nearly two dozen locally based stream
restoration plans, and crews have been hard at work improving
irrigation systems and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.
But big challenges lie ahead — drought, population growth,
accelerating climate change, budget cuts, wildfires and
competing demands for water, among others.
As long as people have lived in Pasadena, water has been an
essential element for the life-style, health and economy of our
region. Now, however, Pasadena faces a severe water crisis.
This never has been an easy need to resolve, but population,
growth and climate change have made the development of a
sustainable or resilient water program an even greater
necessity for the future. It’s not just a challenge
for Pasadena, but also for all of California, and even the
nation. -Written by Tim Brick, the Managing Director of the Arroyo
Seco Foundation.
Threats associated with global water scarcity are increasingly
making news as continued growth in agricultural production,
expansion of urban boundaries, new industrial facilities, and
increased sensitivity to environmental needs drive increased
water demand. Supply side constraints for water are further
exacerbated by increasingly intense and frequent drought
events, such as the recent four-year (2016 to 2020) California
drought … Thus, a proliferation in wastewater
recycling over the coming decades could support a significant
lessening of water stress in many water-stressed areas.
Pleasanton is no longer pursuing potable reuse as a water
supply alternative after the City Council voted 3-2 to stop
studying the matter with other regional agencies on Tuesday.
The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) has awarded
EPCOR USA a $250,000 grant to help build a new reclaimed water
pipeline for the benefit of San Tan (formerly Johnson
Utilities) customers, agricultural water users, and the San Tan
Valley region. This supports water management goals in the
Phoenix Active Management Area by reducing demand for
groundwater pumping. Under the terms of the Lower Colorado
Basin Drought Contingency Plan (DCP), Arizona stakeholders
agreed to offset Central Arizona Project water reductions to
agricultural users by making alternate sources available.
Rancho California Water District crews are continuing work to
replace more than a mile of aging pipeline under westbound
Temecula Parkway. The project began in November, and Rancho
Water staff told the Temecula City Council in October that work
was expected to continue through the middle of next year. The
project will ultimately replace about 8,000 feet, or about a
mile and a half, of aging recycled water pipeline between
Bedford Court and Rancho Pueblo Road…
California Congressman John Garamendi is being appointed by his
congressional colleagues to the Water Resources and Environment
Subcommittee, a responsibility he doesn’t take
lightly. Garamendi will now oversee matters related to
water resources development, conservation, infrastructure and
hazardous waste cleanup. He says water conservation is
“critical,” and wants storage and recycling of the state’s
water supply to be key elements for his new policies.
San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities are
facing different but equally daunting water challenges.
For Valley farmers, the requirement to achieve groundwater
sustainability in coming years has heightened interest in
expanding water supplies to reduce the need to fallow irrigated
farmland. For Southern California, falling demands since the
early 2000s have reduced water stress during normal and wet
years, but a warming climate makes future droughts a major
concern. Both regions’ water futures could be more secure if
they jointly developed and managed some water supplies. -Written by Alvar Escriva-Bou, a research fellow at the
Public Policy Institute of California
Recognizing the groundbreaking nature of the Pure Water
Monterey recycled water project, the U.S Department of the
Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has awarded the project a
$15.5 million grant.
The quality of the water crossing into San Diego from Tijuana
during storms is, well, not the greatest. If it could be
successfully recycled one day, that same polluted source would
be valuable to a region like ours that’s prone to drought.But
who owns the Tijuana River and who needs its water the most are
complex questions, because the area is ruled by international
treaties.
California isn’t meeting its recycled water goals, and billions
of gallons of treated wastewater are being discharged into the
ocean or other water bodies each year, according to state
regulators, who say drought conditions could cause future
supply challenges.
A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the Water Replenishment
District as staff, board members and the district’s attorneys
try to navigate a legal minefield created by controversial
attempts to hire former Carson Mayor Albert Robles as the
agency’s new general manager.
In a bold step toward a new kind of collaboration in the
Colorado River Basin, the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California and Southern Nevada Water Authority are
partnering to explore development of a drought-proof water
supply that could reduce reliance on the over-stressed river.
The U.S. Secretary of the Interior is planning to recommend a
$6 million grant award for the construction of the Pure Water
Oceanside project. Pure Water Oceanside will purify
recycled water to create a local source of potable drinking
water. Currently, the city imports about 85% of its water from
hundreds of miles away at the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta and the Colorado River.
For 60 years, Miramar Reservoir has been an integral part of
the City of San Diego’s drinking water system … Now, the
reservoir is being called into service to play a vital part in
San Diego’s future Pure Water system to sustain a reliable
water supply.
If an options agreement between the [Ridgecrest] City Council
and Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority comes to
fruition, recycled water from the city’s wastewater facility
could help balance the groundwater basin… Both the council
and the groundwater authorities at their respective meetings
last week approved the option agreement between the two parties
for recycled wastewater.
Lake Miramar, a longtime recreational oasis celebrating its
60th anniversary this year, is about to become a key part of
San Diego’s new $5 billion Pure Water system that will boost
the city’s water independence by recycling treated sewage.
As the water resource manager for Santa Clara County, Valley
Water works diligently to secure a safe, reliable water supply
for Silicon Valley in a sustainable manner that protects our
environment. That’s why water reuse is a critical strategy to
the agency’s future water supply outlook.
Bear Republic Brewing Company started by trucking three
6,000-gallon trucks of waste from the Cloverdale brewery
location to a facility in Oakland roughly 90 miles away
one-way. This solution was simply unsustainable for many
reasons, and Bear Republic eventually partnered with Cambrian
Innovation to install two anaerobic reactors on site.
With the future of the much-debated Pure Water Monterey
expansion proposal hanging on a single vote, the hotly
contested Del Rey Oaks City Council race has taken on regional
significance.
The Ridgecrest City Council Nov. 18 will discuss entering into
an agreement with the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority
regarding treated wastewater. … The agreement would be for
five years, during which the city would provide for sale to the
IWVGA available recycled water produced at its wastewater
treatment plant upon 30-day notice to the city.
The Metropolitan Water District board voted to begin
environmental planning work on what would be one of the largest
advanced purified wastewater treatment plants in the world.
Metropolitan officials said the approval marks a significant
milestone for the Regional Recycled Water Program…
There’s some fascinating tension around a proposed wastewater
reclamation collaboration in Southern California. The project,
if it goes forward, would provide some 150 million gallons per
day (~170,000 acre feet per year) of treated effluent. Water
now being discharged into the ocean would instead be available
for aquifer recharge within Southern California.
Years in the works, Menlo Park’s first recycled water system is
up and running, carrying wastewater from local households to
the Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club, where a new treatment
facility cleans the water for irrigation use, keeping the golf
course a lush emerald green.
If all goes according to plan, recycled water from the city’s
planned $45 to $60 million wastewater treatment facility may be
used to help balance the Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin
as mandated by the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act.
It’s little surprise California American Water’s proposed
desalination project and the fate of a public buyout effort
aimed at acquiring the company’s local water system are at the
core of the contests for two seats on the Monterey Peninsula
Water Management District board of directors…
The $681 million project, led by the East [San Diego]
County Advanced Water Purification Project Joint Powers
Authority, will recycle daily wastewater flows from Santee, El
Cajon, Lakeside, Winter Gardens and Alpine. The recycled water
will then go through an advanced treatment process that
includes membrane filtration, reverse osmosis and advanced
oxidation to produce purified water.
After about six months of construction, Morro Bay’s new water
reclamation facility is well underway — and it remains
politically divisive this election season, with three
candidates talking about halting or undoing the project, which
is the largest-ever infrastructure project in city history.
The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency received $10.5 million in
grants from the California Department of Water Resources to
fund five local projects related to recycling and water-quality
improvements.
It’s still dry as dirt, but promises to be a central component
of future water supplies for the 165,000 people served by the
Santa Margarita Water District. While the district currently
imports 100% of its drinking water from the Colorado River and
northern California, the new Trampas Canyon Reservoir is part
of a plan to generate 30% of potable water supplies locally and
to recycle more wastewater.
California American Water and Marina city officials are in the
process of setting up talks on the company’s desalination
project after exchanging letters over the past several weeks.
Every year, the Groundwater Resources Association of California
selects two speakers for the David Keith Todd Lectureship…
One of the speakers for the 2020 lecture series was Theresa
“Tess” Dunham, an attorney with Kahn, Soares & Conway LLP, who
spoke about groundwater quality and how the Porter-Cologne
Water Quality Control Act, the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act, and the state’s recycled water policy can work
together.
The Soquel Creek Water District is pleased to announce that its
low-interest loan from the US Environmental Protection Agency
has been approved, to be used toward construction of the Pure
Water Soquel Groundwater Replenishment and Seawater Intrusion
Prevention Project. The loan, up to a maximum of $88.9 million
at an interest rate of 1.34%, is part of the Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act funding program.
A letter posed an excellent question to the Soquel Creek Water
District – a question that comes up often in the community. To
paraphrase: with the Mid-County groundwater basin in a state of
critical overdraft, why is development that adds water users to
the already over-burdened water system allowed to continue?
Last week on these pages, you heard the President of California
American Water explain their rationale for withdrawing their
application for a desalination plant from the California
Coastal Commission the day before their Sept. 17 hearing. What
he didn’t tell you is that there is a feasible alternative
project that has less environmental impact, is more socially
just, and would be less costly to ratepayers
On Wednesday, at the virtual 35th Annual WateReuse Symposium,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency facilitated a
“charrette” to identify challenges and map solutions to
continue advancing the National Water Reuse Action Plan…
“Water reuse must be a central theme in EPA’s efforts to meet
21st century demands for water,” said EPA Assistant
Administrator for Water David Ross.
This proposal by California American Water has become one of
the most complicated and fraught issues to come before the
California Coastal Commission, whose long-awaited vote on
Thursday could determine not only the contentious future
of water on the Monterey Peninsula — but also the role of
government in undoing environmental inequity.
San Diego is not well endowed with many freshwater sources to
support its growing population, so some water experts are
perplexed the city’s ignoring a self-replenishing local
groundwater source that, though small in size, is safe from the
threat of natural disasters and reliably recharged by the San
Diego River.
The plan, approved by the board of directors, will help serve
more customers who use recycled water for irrigation,
construction grading, fire department usage. Additionally, the
board approved temporarily closing the Recycled Water Fill
Station No. 1 to move it, upgrade it and add better security
for the grounds.
The Utility of the Future Today recognition program celebrates
the achievements of water utilities that transform from a
traditional wastewater treatment system to a resource recovery
center and leader in the overall sustainability and resilience
of the communities they serve.
Expansion of the Pure Water Monterey recycled water project is
the best option for the Monterey region to meet its future
water supply needs. Unfortunately, California American Water
Co., a private water supplier, is discrediting the project in
hopes of getting approval for their much more costly, oversized
and environmentally harmful groundwater desalination project…
Santa Rosa miscalculated its stored water forecast near the
beginning of the irrigation season, leading to sudden limits on
water use that farmers say will cost them dearly in an already
dry year. In mid-June, the agricultural users were put on
notice: There would not be enough irrigation water for all to
last through the growing season, according to the city.
Nine months after the Coastal Commission conducted its first
hearing on California American Water’s proposed desalination
project, commission staff has again recommended denial of the
project in favor of a Pure Water Monterey expansion proposal.
In California, Monterey Regional Waste Management District and
its neighbor, wastewater treatment plant Monterey One Water,
have entered a somewhat unusual relationship with unique
benefits to each. And the relationship has payoffs for its
shared customers too.
Using Houston as a model, researchers at Rice’s Brown School of
Engineering have developed a plan that could reduce the need
for surface water (from rivers, reservoirs or wells) by 28% by
recycling wastewater to make it drinkable once again.
The development of a groundwater sustainability plan has begun
and will help ensure we can manage the Carpinteria Groundwater
Basin sustainably, which is an important shared resource for
the Carpinteria Valley. In addition, the Carpinteria Advanced
Purification Project, now under development, will allow us to
diversify our water portfolio so that we can be resilient in
future periods of drought.
The Ironhouse Sanitary District has released a video of how
residents of the City of Oakley and Bethel Island can utilize
the Recycled Water Fill Station. The station is open on
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Recycled
water can be used for the irrigation of lawns, plants, trees,
and vegetable gardens.
A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit has
been granted to the city by the San Diego Regional Water
Quality Control Board to add purified water to Miramar
Reservoir for Phase 1 of the program.
Every day Hyperion Water Treatment Plant discharges enough
treated wastewater into the ocean to fill the Rose Bowl 2.5
times over. Now a court has instructed state water officials to
analyze whether it is “wasteful” and “unreasonable” to dump
billions of gallons of wastewater into the sea.
The Los Angeles Superior Court issued a historic ruling, in
favor of Los Angeles Waterkeeper, that compels the State Water
Resources Control Board to analyze whether it is “wasteful” and
“unreasonable” to dump billions of gallons of wastewater
uselessly into the sea, when it could instead be used
productively to ensure the sustainability of California’s water
resources.
In his Aug. 2 Herald commentary, Grant Leonard claimed that Cal
Am’s proposed Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project would be
a win-win for both Castroville, a disadvantaged community, and
Carmel, which is on the other side of the economic spectrum.
Some things challenge that claim.
San Diego’s oft-delayed Pure Water project – a bid to create a
third of the city’s water from recycled sewage – scored a
victory in court Friday that could get the $5 billion project
back on track.
The City of Oceanside was picked from among small agencies
throughout California as Recycled Water Agency of the Year for
its significant water recycling efforts. The city was
recognized with an Award of Excellence at WateReuse
California’s virtual conference earlier this summer.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Board
of Directors recently approved the East County Advanced Water
Purification Program for its Local Resources Program, providing
approximately $86 million in funding for this important water
supply project.
In separate actions Tuesday, Metropolitan’s Board of Directors
voted to provide $115 million to the San Diego County Water
Authority and its project partners for water produced by the
East County Advanced Water Purification Project in Santee and
the Escondido Filtration Reverse Osmosis Facility.
The California Department of Water Resources has awarded more
than $15 million in grant funds to advance several regional
water projects in San Diego County, ranging from water
recycling and reuse to water conservation.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy is providing $20 million for innovations that
“strengthen America’s water infrastructure and enable advanced
water resource recovery systems that have the potential to be
net energy positive.” Over the next 10 years, 40 states expect
water shortages in some areas, according to the DOE.
The Orange County Water District has been awarded a $3.6
million grant from the California Department of Water Resources
Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) grant program for
use toward the construction of its Groundwater Replenishment
System (GWRS) Final Expansion project. Operational since 2008,
the GWRS is undergoing its second and final expansion.
Mostly, the people didn’t know their groundwater was polluted..
And they didn’t know the contaminated portions shut down by
federal authorities in many instances were finally being
restored. Kenneth “Ken” Manning, 69, a fixture in ground-water
restoration in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, a
pioneer in water recycling and a master at public-private
partnerships, knew. And on June 30, Manning will retire from
his most recent job, as executive director of the San Gabriel
Basin Water Quality Authority.
It seems some are willing to wait forever for a new water
supply. After 25 years of failure, they still trust Cal Am to
come up with a solution. But the Monterey Peninsula Water
Management District is clearly done waiting. Last Monday, the
district board withdrew its support for Cal Am’s proposed desal
plant.
The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District is
constructing the $375 million South Sacramento County
Agriculture & Habitat Lands Recycled Water Program, or the
South County Ag Program. As part of the wastewater provider’s
$2 billion treatment plant upgrade, the district will construct
new distribution pipelines to deliver recycled water from its
to irrigation systems in southern Sacramento County.
For the first time, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management
District has formally expressed opposition to the California
American Water desalination project, backing the proposed Pure
Water Monterey recycled water project expansion instead… At
the same time, the district took another step toward potential
acquisition of Cal Am’s Monterey water system with the release
of a draft environmental impact report on the proposed public
buyout effort.
To a large extent, the fate of several multi-million dollar
water projects on the Monterey Peninsula is in the hands of the
California Coastal Commission. The question is whether the
commission will grant a development permit for a desalination
plant proposed by California American Water…
Water agencies in California typically include water recycling
in their water supply portfolios, but the ones that serve
smaller populations may not be able to implement full-blown
reuse programs all at once. The City of Paso Robles, home to
approximately 30,000 residents, shows it’s possible to build
water resilience without building an advanced purification
plant.
The Bureau of Reclamation is providing $16.6 million to nine
congressionally authorized Title XVI Water Reclamation and
Reuse projects in California and Hawaii. This funding, part of
the WaterSMART Program, is for the planning, design, and
construction of water recycling and reuse projects in
partnership with local government entities.
Thousands of people in Marina are being blocked from full
representation on the board of a regional water agency, a
casualty of a larger battle over the water future of the
Monterey Peninsula. The agency is Monterey One Water, and it is
responsible for treating sewage.
Thousands of people in Marina are being blocked from full
representation on the board of a regional water agency, a
casualty of a larger battle over the water future of the
Monterey Peninsula.
A Pure Water Monterey expansion proposal has narrowly survived
another attempt to shelve it indefinitely even as the main
recycled water project struggles with operational and cost
issues that have further postponed its water delivery date and
hampered its capacity.
Over email, local water activists concocted a secret plan to
derail a vote that would potentially kill one water project and
bolster the prospects of another. The idea was to stage a
“filibuster” of the Monterey One Water board meeting scheduled
for Tuesday, May 26.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors Wednesday unanimously
approved a service agreement for an East County water project.
East County Advanced Water Purification is a regional project
that includes the county Sanitation District, Padre Dam
Municipal Water District, the city of El Cajon and Helix Water
District. Those entities are also part of a joint powers
authority, which was formed last November.
Despite its reputation as a conservative owner, the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is piloting
a bold new initiative to produce an additional regional water
source through its Regional Recycled Water Program, which aims
to take treated sanitation water and purify it to produce
high-quality drinking water. … The $3.4-billion plan could
produce up to 150 million gallons of purified water daily,
addressing the needs of more than 500,000 homes and industrial
facilities.
The board of Monterey One Water recently voted not to certify a
supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) for an
expansion of Pure Water Monterey. While the expansion was a
technical concept that might provide additional water for the
Peninsula, the Board action injected some much-needed clear
thinking and foresight into a critical topic for the Monterey
Peninsula.
As a result of compliance with conservation measures through
lower indoor water use, the amount of wastewater effluent was
reduced. This reduction means less water for recycling and
reuse — a source of water often thought of as drought-proof —
and less water for stream augmentation, with a consequence of
potentially impacting streamflow and downstream water
quality…
What we in Los Angeles should want from the Met is a continuing
flow of clean water from the faucet — but this time with
planning and infrastructure that reduce reliance on diminishing
imports, minimize damage to our fellow Californians in the
delta and elsewhere, and sustain iconic species like migrating
salmon.
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District officials have
requested the Monterey One Water board certify the Pure Water
Monterey expansion project supplemental environmental impact
report within 30 days and is withholding more than $600,000
representing part of its share of the environmental review.
“Regulatory guidelines for virus removal in potable reuse
systems need additional review for possible more stringent
requirements in the event of a coronavirus outbreak,” says an
April 2 editorial in the journal Environmental Science and
Water Technology, co-authored by Haizhou Liu of UC
Riverside’s department of chemical and environmental
engineering.
West County Wastewater and East Bay Municipal Utility District
announced a recycled water partnership that will preserve
valuable drinking water for the region and support West County
Wastewater’s ongoing mission of environmental stewardship and
protecting public health.
A proposed Pure Water Monterey expansion at the center of a
contentious debate over the future of the Monterey Peninsula’s
water supply hit a huge roadblock on Monday night, leaving its
future in serious doubt.
A dam and reservoir under construction on land acquired from
Rancho Mission Viejo has not been affected by the coronavirus
pandemic, according to Santa Margarita Water District Deputy
General Manager Don Bunts. Recent rainfall, however, has
affected the Trampas Canyon Dam and Reservoir project, which
intends to store recycled water.
Amid continuing debate over the role the proposed Pure Water
Monterey recycled water project expansion will play in the
Monterey Peninsula’s water supply, the proposal has reached a
key stage. On Monday, the Monterey One Water board is scheduled
to consider certifying a final supplemental environmental
impact report for the expansion project…
As of March, the East Valley Water District’s Sterling Natural
Resource Center construction project reached the halfway point
to scheduled completion⎯about 18 months in and 18 months left
to work. The water recycling plant will be capable of treating
up to 10 million gallons per day, depositing the clean water
into percolation ponds in order to recharge the Bunker Hill
Basin groundwater.
Two bipartisan draft water infrastructure bills unveiled this
week by the Senate environment committee are a good start but
will need even more funding in the wake of the coronavirus
pandemic, water agencies and other groups said Wednesday.
Given the recent impact of PFAS on other aspects of the water
and wastewater industry, it is important to determine the
consequences potential new regulation andnew public awareness
of PFAS will have for potable reuse projects.
Californians reuse treated wastewater as a water supply, to
irrigate crops, and to support freshwater ecosystems. To get
answers to questions about managing the new coronavirus in the
“sewershed,” we talked to two experts: Kara Nelson, an expert
in waterborne pathogens at UC Berkeley; and Adam Link,
executive director of the California Association of Sanitation
Agencies.
Stormwater is the rain and other water that runs off of streets
and sidewalks into nearby gutters or waterways. Communities
throughout the western U.S. are expanding efforts to collect
this valuable water resource. These projects range from
capturing water from a single rooftop or driveway to developing
large infiltration basins that recharge billions of gallons of
water each year in groundwater basins.
In a time when many people in the world are inside their houses
to stop the spread of covid-19, it is easy to forget that good
news still exists. The Environmental Protection Agency’s
National Water Reuse Action Plan is a bit of good news. The
Plan, announced on February 27, 2020, by EPA Administration
Andrew Wheeler, prioritizes the use of recycled water.
Likely just in time for the real thing, a “Mock Frost” event
was held this week to test the capacity of the city of Ukiah’s
recycled Water System, also called the Purple Pipe. … “It
went well,” Ukiah grape grower David Koball said of the test.
“There was lots of water pressure and we had no issues.”
The Water and Wastewater Pathway at Indian Springs High School
is strategically located near East Valley Water District’s new
state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facility. The Sterling
Natural Resource Center (SNRC) will provide a sustainable new
water supply to boost the region’s water independence.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently released its
National Water Reuse Action Plan to promote more water reuse in
the U.S. William M. Alley, director of science and technology
for the National Ground Water Association, says the plan
focuses on low-hanging fruit and states and associations will
likely remain the leaders and innovators in water reuse.
A new National Water Reuse Action Plan focuses on water reuse
practices aimed at strengthening water security, sustainability
and resilience for both rural and urban communities. … The
EPA and its partners hope to increase water reuse to address
the rising demands for water across the United States.
Currently, water reuse amounts to less than 1 percent of the
demand.
In a part of the country where freshwater supplies are often
scarce, the Olivenhain (California) Municipal Water District is
doing its part. The 4S Ranch Water Reclamation Facility
recycles some 1 million gallons of high-quality effluent each
day for irrigation and shares even more with neighboring
communities.
A multi-partner water recycling project is helping Monterey,
Calif., stabilize and replenish its dwindling groundwater
supply. The project could serve as a model for shrinking
aquifers in other regions of the country.
In partnership with the Diablo Water District, the Ironhouse
Sanitary District is examining the potential to reintroduce
treated wastewater into the drinking water supply through a
process called indirect water reuse.
Legal wrangling over San Diego’s proposed Pure Water sewage
recycling system continued Friday, when a judge gave a
temporary reprieve to a group of local contractors fighting for
the ability of non-union workers to help build the system.
Legal wrangling over San Diego’s proposed Pure Water sewage
recycling system continued Friday, when a judge gave a
temporary reprieve to a group of local contractors fighting for
the ability of non-union workers to help build the system.
San Diego’s long-awaited Pure Water project, a sewage recycling
system that would boost the city’s water independence, is
facing legal challenges that could last longer and cost more
than city officials previously anticipated.
Oceanside celebrated the start of construction Wednesday on a
project that could make it the first city in San Diego County
to be drinking recycled water by 2022. At least two other
cities or water districts are close behind on similar projects,
and several more agencies are considering plans to make potable
recycled water a significant portion of their supply.
A planned water recycling plant project took a leap forward
this week after approval of a new land purchase. The Soquel
Creek Water District board voted unanimously Tuesday night to
exercise its $3.2 million option to purchase nearly 2 acres of
Live Oak light industrial property at the corner of Chanticleer
and Soquel drives.
Marking a historic moment for the city of Oceanside and the
region, city officials and water industry leaders will break
ground on Pure Water Oceanside on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 10 a.m.
at the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility. Scheduled to be
completed before the end of 2021, Pure Water Oceanside will be
on the map as the first operating recycled water project in San
Diego County.
City staff recommends Pleasanton sign on to a potentially $1
million task order with three other Tri-Valley public water
agencies for preliminary studies and community outreach … to
explore the possibility of supplementing the local water supply
with recycled water treated for drinking purposes, better known
as potable reuse water.
The governing boards of the two water agencies, which combined
serve southern and eastern San Diego County, recently created a
joint committee to explore a potential arrangement that would
allow Sweetwater to purchase recycled water from Otay.
Pure Water Monterey has finally secured a critical final state
approval and is poised to begin delivering potable recycled
water to the Seaside basin by mid-February. After an all-day
inspection of the $126 million recycled water project’s
advanced water purification facility by a nine-member team on
Tuesday, the state Division of Drinking Water signed off both
verbally and by email.
Vast amounts of valuable energy, agricultural nutrients, and
water could potentially be recovered from the world’s
fast-rising volume of municipal wastewater, according to a new
study by UN University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water,
Environment and Health.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is confronting the United
States’ biggest challenge in recycling municipal wastewater:
the “gak” factor. It takes a lot for some people to understand
the idea that recycling wastewater really does eliminate the
“waste” in the water before it is ready to be reused.
For decades, California’s coastal aquifers have been plagued by
invading seawater, turning pristine wells into salty ruins. But
the state’s coastal water agencies now plan to get more
aggressive in holding back the invasion by injecting millions
of gallons of treated sewage and other purified wastewater deep
underground.
2020 brings the start of a new decade and may also bring
Carpinteria residents and businesses closer to having a new
local, drought proof water supply. Exciting times!
Although water purified at the Silicon Valley Advanced
Purification Center is not currently part of Santa Clara
County’s supply of drinking water, the goal is to make that a
reality within the next decade or so.
The Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, located just south of
LAX, purifies water and injects it into the ground to act as a
barrier between seawater and fresh groundwater. … But the
idea is to one day recycle wastewater into drinking water and
put it right back into the system. The industry is moving
cautiously, though, given what you might call a considerable
“ick” factor for the public.
According to Monterey One Water general manager Paul Sciuto,
the best-case scenario now is the much-anticipated $126 million
recycled water project would be able to start delivering water
to the basin by early February, about a month later than the
most recent previous estimate…
A project in the Salinas Valley aims to remove contaminants
like phosphate from the water at a lower cost using much less
energy. … Partnering with the city of Salinas and the
wastewater treatment facility, the project aims to remove
phosphates efficiently and recycle water for groundwater
recharge and irrigation water to farmers.
Hailing it as a “historic” agreement, Santa Clara County’s
primary water supplier, Valley Water, enthusiastically approved
on Dec. 10 a 76-year deal with Palo and Mountain View to
construct a water purification plant in the Baylands with the
intent of greatly expanding use of recycled water.
California is at a water crossroads. We can continue our
costly, 100-year-old pattern of trying to find new water
supplies, or we can choose instead to focus on smarter ways of
using – and reusing – what we already have.
The nearly $4 million project, assisted with $3.4 million in
state grants and a $1 million match from Pajaro Valley Water,
is expected to further reduce groundwater pumping in the area,
so as to halt seawater intrusion and groundwater overdraft
while keeping agriculture viable in the Pajaro Valley.
Legislation needs to be implemented to lessen pollution. And
all sectors — public and private — need to be educated about
the importance of saving water, as does society more broadly.
High on the list should be efforts to investigate the benefits
and risks of drinking reused water, including ways to make it
more acceptable to consumers.
UC Berkeley engineers have developed a mineral-coated sand that
can soak up toxic metals like lead and cadmium from water.
Along with its ability to destroy organic pollutants like
bisphenol A, this material could help cities tap into
stormwater, an abundant but underused water source.
Rather than physically move water hundreds of kilometers across
earthquake country between Northern California and San
Bernardino, the plan involves reallocating water virtually,
just as you would electronically transfer funds from one bank
account to another. Once the Chino Basin Program is
operational, in times of drought the southern region can draw
water from the new reserve instead of from the State Water
Project… That will mean water impounded by Oroville Dam can
be released into the Feather River, benefitting endangered
chinook.
There’s a war over the future of water on the Monterey
Peninsula and it’s taking place in the board chambers of half a
dozen state and local government entities. It’s also taking
place on social media and in the press.
A bi-national conference at San Diego State University was
aimed at analyzing water resources in the Baja California and
San Diego border region where challenges include cross-border
pollution and water scarcity… Experts at the Reborder 2019
conference discussed ways to improve regional access to “a
secure and reliable water supply” through wastewater treatment
and desalination.
A reservoir and water dam project aiming to store recycled
water is on track, according to water management officials. The
Santa Margarita Water District gave a tour of the Trampas
Canyon Reservoir and Dam on Saturday, Nov. 16. Construction
began in January 2018 and is expected to finish by 2020.
Manisha Kothari looked every bit the bartender as she filled a
dozen shot glasses, pouring carefully from a slender pitcher.
… What Kothari, a water resource specialist, filled the
glasses with looked, smelled and tasted like what comes out of
any city faucet, but it had been harvested from the San
Francisco water agency’s toilets, sinks and shower drains.
The pricetag for recycled drinking water just got less
expensive for Mid-County customers. The State Water Resources
Control Board unanimously approved a $50 million grant for
Soquel Creek Water District’s pending Pure Water Soquel
Groundwater Replenishment and Seawater Intrusion Prevention
Project.
A $32.6 million addition to a water treatment facility rising
out of the ground under giant cranes will turn waste into
electricity, and provide education, jobs and more to an
underserved community, according to the East Valley Water
District. A co-digester added to the Sterling Natural Resource
Center project will turn sewage and food waste into three
megawatts of power per year, enough to power about 1,950
houses.
If people are educated on recycled water, they may come to
agree it’s perfectly safe and tastes as good — or better –
than their drinking water. … But that doesn’t mean they’re
going to use recycled water — and it sure doesn’t mean they’ll
drink it. And the reason lies in the word “disgust.”
Although still relegated largely to populated areas in such
water-challenged states as California, Arizona, Texas, and
Florida, water reuse is gaining ground in other areas. At the
same time, the focus of water reuse increasingly is shifting to
potable applications
On September 10, 2019, at the 34th Annual WateReuse Symposium
in San Diego, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a
draft National Water Reuse Action Plan for public
comment—containing 46 proposed actions, to be accomplished by a
mix of federal, state, private, local and private stakeholders,
in order to promote 10 strategic objectives.
Orange County’s wastewater recycling program, a pioneering idea
that’s already touted as the largest of its type in the world,
is about to get bigger. Big enough, in fact, to serve the tap
water needs of about 1 million residents, according to the
Orange County Water District and Orange County Sanitation
District.
The creation of the JPA marks a key milestone in moving forward
the project that will create a new, local, sustainable and
drought-proof drinking water supply using state-of-the-art
technology to purify East San Diego County’s recycled water.
How do we mitigate the “yuck factor” that many people have
about reclaimed water use, when it’s been proven safe and
effective elsewhere? These concerns were discussed at
GreenerBuilder 2019, USGBC’s conference in the Pacific region,
hosted in San Francisco, where industry experts from across the
state led a panel discussion on tactics to improve onsite water
reuse.
The revamped and expanded plant is expected to be operational
in spring 2021 and will do so with a new name — The Rosamond
CSD Water Reclamation Plant — to better describe its ultimate
purpose. In addition to handling the community’s wastewater
disposal, the plant will recharge the underlying groundwater
basin, providing additional groundwater for the District to
pump.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to remove pro-union
language from contracts for Pure Water, a recycling system that
would purify treated sewage into drinking water and supply
one-third of San Diego’s water supply by 2035. The pro-union
language had prompted a judge to issue an injunction halting
the project.
Now is the time to focus on Pure Water Monterey and scrap the
desal plans. If 10 years from now the recycled water project
doesn’t do the trick, and there’s still a need for a desal
plant, we can be optimistic that future advances in technology
will make any desal option more environmentally-friendly and
less expensive.
A team led by USC Viterbi’s Adam Smith has found that purified
water returned to Southern California aquifers often becomes
contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a realization
that could have major implications on the global water supply.
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $100
million research grant to the National Alliance for Water
Innovation (NAWI) to lead an Energy-Water Desalination Hub.
Meagan Mauter explains how this very large and potentially
transformative project will work, and Stanford’s role in the
work.
As of last month, Scottsdale’s Advanced Water Treatment Plant
at the city’s water campus in north Scottsdale got permission
to do something no other Arizona city can do: turn recycled
water into drinking water.
The Ventura City Council approved a $200 million-plus plan
Monday that will give the city more drinking water and greatly
reduce the treated wastewater its sewer plant releases into the
Santa Clara River estuary. The big-ticket item in the city’s
plan is a new plant that will take wastewater that once went
into the estuary and treat it to drinking water standards…
On Friday night the governor signed Assemblyman Todd Gloria’s
Assembly Bill 1413, which will support local referendums on
transit funding, and Assembly Bill 1290 by Gloria and Sen. Toni
Atkins that clears the way for the pioneering Pure Water
project.
While cities on the Monterey Peninsula have been working to
address housing needs and the business community is actively
looking to create more jobs, there is one component they all
need to complete their plans – reliable, drought-proof access
to water.
