State authorities are set to vote next week on regulations for turning sewage into drinking water across California. The State Water Resources Control Board’s “toilet to tap” resolution would create, as a means of protecting public health, uniform recycling criteria for the direct reuse of treated wastewater as potable water, according to the agency.
Hailing her as a champion for the environment and water recycling, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on Thursday, Nov. 11, renamed the Pure Water Southern California demonstration plant after Rep. Grace Napolitano.
Napolitano, D-El Monte, who is retiring at the end of her term, was on hand for the dedication ceremony in Carson Thursday morning. The plant was officially renamed the Grace F. Napolitano Pure Water Southern California Innovation Center “for her unwavering dedication to water sustainability and reliability for all of Southern California,” according to a statement.
“What can be universally said about Congresswoman Napolitano is that she is the ultimate connector of people and creator of solutions,” MWD Board Chair Adán Ortega Jr. said. “Imagine her the needle and us the thread. She has banded us together to address our challenges — to clean up uranium tailings in Moab, Utah; to expand water recycling across the state; to increase water conservation in homes; and to develop water career training programs, ensuring we have the future workforce we need. This center for innovation in the science of water recycling can only have one name, and it is in honor of Congresswoman Grace Napolitano.”
State officials Wednesday presented an $80 million check to advance Pure Water Southern California, a large-scale, regional water recycling program intended to create a new source of water to benefit 19 million people amid changing climate and weather whiplash.
Assemblywoman Lisa Calderon, D-Whittier, Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, and Carson Mayor Pro Tem Jawane Hilton joined water district officials during Wednesday’s event at the Pure Water demonstration facility.
“The climate crisis has strained our region’s water supply,” Calderon said in a statement. “It’s imperative we continue investing in our projects focused on addressing our water needs.”
Pure Water will take cleaned wastewater that is currently sent to the ocean and purify it to produce high-quality drinking water, officials said.
Project partners Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Los Angeles County Sanitation District received funding from the state’s 2022-23 budget to accelerate the project’s design and construction, with the potential to begin construction as early as 2025 and have water deliveries start in 2032.
A joint venture of AECOM and Brown and Caldwell (AECOM-BC Team) has been chosen to provide program and project management support and engineering design services for the Pure Water Southern California program, one of the largest water reuse programs in the world.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan or MWD) has hired Brown and Caldwell to study alternative water conveyance options to provide supply diversity to the region during severe droughts.
MWD’s mission is to ensure a safe and reliable water supply for the 19 million people in Southern California in the face of climate change and extended drought.
California is entering this next year with a water deficit, that is unlikely to recover with an average year of precipitation. With reservoir levels and groundwater levels dropping, the Metropolitan Water District is innovating new ways to reduce our reliance on imported water. Metropolitan Water District plays an integral role in how we get our water in Southern California. They’re responsible for importing water from the Colorado River system and the State Water Project in Northern California, which is then distributed to water agencies around the southland.
MWD has been working on a new source of reliable water called the Pure Water Southern California recycling program, that takes cleaned wastewater and purifies it into high-quality drinking water.
MWD is asking for public comment on this project through Nov. 14.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
