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Once complete, the Manchester Avenue Recycled Water Project will reduce demand for imported potable water by more than 10 million gallons every year. Photo: Joe Jensen, Olivenhain Municipal Water District

Water Recycling Projects Expanding in San Diego County

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A proactive approach to developing diversified water sources, including water recycling projects and conservation efforts, are helping the San Diego region weather the current drought.

The Olivenhain Municipal Water District is working on multiple projects to expand the use of recycled water. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation awarded the North San Diego Water Reuse Coalition, led by OMWD, $17.8 million in August for the development of recycled water infrastructure in North County.

Combined with the $6.1 million the federal agency granted to the coalition in 2021, up to $23.9 million will help cover costs for work performed on water reclamation and reuse projects through 2025. The coalition consists of nine water and wastewater agencies coordinating recycled water efforts across jurisdictional boundaries.

“Our board is proud to be a water district that consistently innovates to reduce project costs,” said OMWD Board Director Neal Meyers. “We constantly develop new funding partnerships, and we aggressively pursue grant funds to help build our vital infrastructure projects at the lowest possible cost to our ratepayers.”

Recent construction of advanced water treatment facilities at the San Elijo Water Reclamation Facility allows for increased recycled water production using high-salinity influent. Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District water supply development

Recent construction of advanced water treatment facilities at the San Elijo Water Reclamation Facility allows for increased recycled water production. Photo: Courtesy SEJPA

Regional Recycled Water Project

The Regional Recycled Water Project will increase the capacity and connectivity of the recycled water storage and distribution systems of the coalition members and maximize reuse of available wastewater supplies.

To do this, the project will replace potable water uses with recycled water components, convert facilities to recycled water service, connect discrete recycled water systems to one another, increase recycled water storage capacity, and distribute recycled water to effectively meet recycled water demands.

Maximizing water reuse, increasing local supply

Project objectives include optimizing available wastewater resources to help offset demands for imported potable water; proactively planning for facilities to meet demands for existing and planned growth in member service areas; combining resources and working together to maximize water reuse; and increasing water supply availability, reliability, and sustainability.

When all long-term project elements are completed, North San Diego County will gain approximately 41 million gallons per day of recycled water and potable reuse water.

Manchester Avenue project underway in Encinitas

Once complete, the Manchester Avenue Recycled Water Project will reduce demand for imported potable water by more than 10 million gallons every year. Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District water supply development

Once complete, the Manchester Avenue Recycled Water Project will reduce demand for imported potable water by more than 10 million gallons every year. Photo: Olivenhain Municipal Water District

Work began on OMWD’s Manchester Avenue Recycled Water Project in summer of 2022. As of October 1, more than half of the total 6,884 feet of recycled water pipeline has been installed. Once complete, irrigation customers connecting to the pipeline will reduce demand for imported potable water by more than 10 million gallons every year.

(Editor’s note: The Olivenhain Municipal Water District  is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)

United States of Megadrought

/in , , /by /Politicoby Arianna Skibell

Drought has engulfed large swaths of the country, threatening parts of the nation’s food and power supply. And it’s getting worse.

More than 80 percent of the continental U.S. is experiencing unusually dry conditions or full-on drought, which is the largest proportion since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began tracking 20 years ago.

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Colorado Snowpack Levels at 229% of Average, A Good Start for Lake Mead

/in , , /by /KLAS Las Vegas by Greg Haas

Snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin is more than double the average normally seen at this time of the year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s website.

A snapshot of the water situation shows above-average precipitation levels at five of the nine regions that make up the basin, and overall snowpack at 229% of average as of Oct. 24. Overall, precipitation is at 83% of average.

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Opinion: Enough Messing Around. Will the Feds Mandate Cuts to Save Lake Mead or Not?

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Joanna Allhands
The Gila River Indian Community announced in August that it would no longer leave part of its sizable Colorado River water allocation in Lake Mead, citing lack of progress on a deal to stop it from tanking.

Two months later, the tribe became the first major Arizona player to take the feds up on a new offer to voluntarily leave water in the lake.

What changed?

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California Ranch Works to Replenish Groundwater Supplies

/in , , /by /Yale Climate Connectionsby YCC Team

California farms grow about a quarter of U.S. food, and that takes a lot of water. Many farmers rely on water pumped from the ground. But over time, pumping is depleting the aquifers. And severe droughts are making the problem worse.

“Eventually, you’re going to run out of water,” says Don Cameron, vice president and general manager of Terranova Ranch in California’s Central Valley.

To help protect the ranch, he’s been working for years to replenish groundwater supplies.

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The Marin Water District has a New Drought Plan

/in , , /by /KTUV Fox 2by Tom Vacar

The Marin Water District has a new plan to deal with California’s worsening drought.

As of Oct. 24, Marin reservoirs have more water than normal, but the county said they’re not waiting for things to get worse.

Marin’s seven reservoirs hold 80,000 acre feet of water, the new plan would kick in when levels fall below 70,000 acre feet. The prior conservation plan didn’t go into effect until levels fell to 50,000.

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Environmental Groups Push for Increased River Flow in Wake of Delta Algal Bloom

/in , , /by /ABC7 by Tim Didion

The destructive algal bloom that struck San Francisco Bay this summer has researchers looking at both causes and solutions. But now, several environmental groups are demanding action on a similar challenge miles upstream from the Bay. They’re focused on a toxic bloom that’s become almost a yearly occurrence in and around the Delta.

 

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Opinion: We Must Wake Up to the World’s Water Crisis

/in , /by /The Hillby Tara D. Sonenshine

Amid a tidal wave of bad news – from inflation and the war in Ukraine to climate change and divisive politics – there is one story that might trump all others in importance, and yet it receives the least sustained global attention: water.

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Send Mississippi River Water to Southwestern Reservoirs? New Analysis Casts Doubts.

/in , /by /The Mercury Newsby Frederick Melo

As an environmental scientist, Roger Viadero had to scratch his head over news reports last summer of the thirsty demand in Palm Springs and Las Vegas, among other western cities, for water from the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.

The letters pages of the Palm Springs Desert Sun newspaper broke their own records for online traffic last June with readers’ proposals to siphon some 22 billion gallons of water per day from the Midwest. To solve the Southwest’s water crisis, the desert denizens wrote, a series of canals and reservoirs could pipe water from the flood-prone Mississippi River to the Colorado River, a supposed win-win for everyone.

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They’re Often in the Shadows of Elections. But Where Do Water District Candidates Stand on the Issues?

/in , /by /Voice of OCby Nick Gerda

Water districts get among the least attention among local governments – yet they control the safety of tap water, the prices, maintain water delivery infrastructure and influence conservation efforts.

So just where do the current candidates stand on issues like the drought, climate change, transparency and term limits?

The Voice of OC newsroom set to find out.

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