Leaders of a planned water recycling project in East County asked a court Tuesday for permission to take control of a pump station from the city of San Diego, escalating a dispute over the future of a plant that could serve hundreds of thousands of people.
Lawyers from the Advanced Water Purification Project submitted a motion in California Superior Court to seize the East Mission Gorge Pump Station.
Kyle Swanson has been unanimously appointed by the Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors as the District’s new CEO/General Manager. He steps into his new role following the retirement of prior CEO/General Manager Allen Carlisle.
“I am excited about this opportunity to serve both the organization and the community as the new CEO/General Manager for Padre Dam Municipal Water District,” said Swanson.
Kyle Swanson has been unanimously appointed by the Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors as the District’s new CEO/General Manager. He steps into his new role following the retirement of prior CEO/General Manager Allen Carlisle.
“I am excited about this opportunity to serve both the organization and the community as the new CEO/General Manager for Padre Dam Municipal Water District,” said Swanson. “I look forward to sustaining the health of the District, providing the opportunity for employees to succeed in their roles within the organization, and achieving the numerous goals and initiatives before us to ensure Padre Dam continues providing the highest quality of service to our customers.”
Swanson’s tenure officially began Swanson’s on June 2, 2022, as Carlisle passed a symbolic baton to Swanson as part of the East County Advanced Water Purification Program groundbreaking ceremony on June 1.
Padre Dam CEO/General Manager Kyle Swanson. Photo: Padre Dam Municipal Water District
Swanson has over 20 years of water industry experience focusing on operations and project management. He joined the Padre Dam team in 2013 as Distribution Maintenance Manager in the operations department and was promoted to Assistant Operations Manager soon after. In 2018, Kyle was promoted to Director of Advanced Water Purification.
During his time in that role, Swanson led the entire AWP team through major milestones that have moved the $950 million East County Advanced Water Purification Program forward into the construction phase it is now entering. He served as the District’s Assistant General Manager for the last nine months.
“Kyle embodies exceptional leadership and utility management skills that will lead this District into a very bright future,” commented Board President Bill Pommering.
Swanson has a bachelor’s degree in geography from San Diego State University, holds multiple industry operational licenses, and is a Certified Public Manager (CPM). He is a San Diego native and East County resident.
Padre Dam Municipal Water District provides water, sewer, recycled water, and recreation services to approximately 102,000 residents in East San Diego County, including Santee, El Cajon, Lakeside, Flinn Springs, Harbison Canyon, Blossom Valley, Alpine, Dehesa, and Crest.
Padre Dam serves as the administrator and operator for the East County Advanced Water Purification Program Joint Powers Authority. This collaborative program is a partnership between Padre Dam, the City of El Cajon, the County of San Diego, and Helix Water District. It will create up to 30% of East County’s water supply by 2026.
(Editor’s note: The Padre Dam Municipal Water District and the Helix Water District, are two of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
June 7, 2022 – Padre Dam Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors unanimously appointed Kyle Swanson as the new CEO/General Manager for the District. Swanson’s tenure as CEO/General Manager began on June 2, 2022 following the retirement of prior CEO/General Manager Allen Carlisle.
“I am excited about this opportunity to serve both the organization and the community as the new CEO / General Manager for Padre Dam Municipal Water District. I look forward to sustaining the health of the District, providing the opportunity for employees to succeed in their roles within the organization and achieving the numerous goals and initiatives before us to ensure Padre Dam continues providing the highest quality of service to our customers,” commented Kyle Swanson.
Officials have broken ground on a water recycling plant in East County, amid negotiations to resolve a pipeline dispute that threatens the $950 million system.
More than 150 people gathered Wednesday in Santee to celebrate the Advanced Water Purification Project, which should eventually treat more than 11 million gallons a day.
The East County Advanced Water Purification Program broke ground, marking an important milestone for the recycled water project in San Diego County. Scheduled to be complete in 2026, the East County AWP will generate up to 11.5 million gallons per day of purified water— meeting approximately 30% of current drinking water demands for East San Diego County.
The East County Advanced Water Purification Program broke ground, marking an important milestone for the recycled water project in San Diego County.
Scheduled to be complete in 2026, the East County AWP will generate up to 11.5 million gallons per day of purified water— meeting approximately 30% of current drinking water demands for East San Diego County residents and businesses.
Program representatives, elected officials and water industry leaders gathered at the future site of the treatment facility in Santee to celebrate the East County AWP. The project 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.
Officials in attendance included representatives from the East County AWP Joint Powers Authority, San Diego County Water Authority, Bureau of Reclamation, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“In 2045, potable reuse projects are going to provide up to 20% of the water that we need here in San Diego County,” said San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra L. Kerl. “This region has been excellent in its innovation and planning for water needs for the region and this project is just another step in that process. I want to congratulate everyone involved in this project in developing another drought-resilient supply for the region.”
“In this year when many areas of California and the West are facing extreme hardships with drought, the East County AWP is really another step forward in reliability for its water supply partners and the region.” — @sdcwa G.M. Sandra L. Kerl, https://t.co/k1Wh7QxzGf pic.twitter.com/sc97zUFaZw
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) June 1, 2022
The groundbreaking follows approval of project construction on May 19, 2022, by the East County AWP Joint Powers Authority that owns and operates the Program and is a collaborative partnership between four agencies: Padre Dam, the City of El Cajon, the County of San Diego and Helix Water District. The overall cost for the project is $950 million and estimated to create 2,500 jobs in the region.
The project will use four advanced water purification steps to produce water that is near-distilled in quality.
“Today marks an exciting moment for our East San Diego County customers,” said Allen Carlisle, Padre Dam and JPA Administrator CEO/General Manager. “We are now one step closer to creating a local, reliable and sustainable drinking water source that will reduce our dependence on increasingly expensive imported water. The East County Advanced Water Purification Program is a smart investment that provides a long-term solution for increased stability in our communities and safeguards the vitality of our economy and quality of life.”
After the advanced water purification process, the purified water will be blended with water in Lake Jennings and treated again at Helix Water District’s R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant before being distributed as drinking water.
“In addition to providing a new local water supply, the Program will eliminate the need to send most of East County’s wastewater to the City of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is currently treated and then discharged into the ocean,” said Kyle Swanson, Padre Dam Incoming CEO/General Manager. “The East County Advanced Water Purification Program will benefit not only our customers and the community, but our shared environment too.”
The East County AWP has secured more than $123 million in grant funding and up to $796 million in low interest loans to help finance the project. East County AWP officials anticipate receiving additional state and federal grant funding to help pay for the project.
“As California adapts to an increasingly arid climate, expanding our water supply portfolio with 21st century investments in water recycling, like the East County Advanced Water Purification program is critical,” said Joaquin Esquivel, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board. “Thanks to state and federal leadership, we have a generational opportunity to support the affordability and viability of this and other water supply projects throughout the state. Local leadership and vision are what have made this project a reality and helped to show that we can turn climate anxiety into climate action.”
(Editor’s note: The Padre Dam Municipal Water District and the Helix Water District are two of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the metropolitan San Diego region.)
The city of San Diego pursued its massive wastewater-to-drinking water recycling program, in part, because the federal government said it had to. Millions of gallons of undertreated sewage enters the Pacific Ocean through the city’s aging Point Loma treatment plant on the regular; Pure Water is the region’s first step toward a solution.
But now, a bloc of eastern San Diego County water agencies is building their own recycling project because, they say, the cost of buying imported water from the drought-ravaged Colorado River is unsustainable.
San Diego’s top brass offered on Thursday to pony up more than $33 million to resolve a hotly disputed pipeline deal between the city and East County concerning two large water recycling projects.
The move comes as the parties inch closer to what could become a protracted legal battle, with serious implications for the East County Advanced Water Purification Project and the city’s massive $5 billion Pure Water sewage recycling venture.
East County officials fear a $950 million sewage recycling project could get flushed down the drain because of a pipeline deal gone awry.
Leaders spearheading the endeavor blame San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria — who signed off on building an eight-mile “brine line” as recently as last year but has since reneged on that commitment.
The pipeline would prevent concentrated waste generated by the East County project’s reverse osmosis filtration system from entering into the city’s own $5 billion Pure Water sewage recycling project now under construction. Instead the byproduct would be routed into the city’s larger wastewater system.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
