Photo: Michael J. Slezak / ms4jah / Moment Open / Getty Images
CARSON (CNS) - 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.
Once completed, Pure Water will produce up to 150 million gallons of water daily, enough to serve the demands of more than 500,000 homes, officials said.
Purified water from the facility will be delivered through up to 60 miles of new pipe to the region's groundwater basins, industrial facilities and two of Metropolitan's water treatment plants.
The program could be among the first projects in California to utilize new regulations proposed last week by the State Water Resources Control Board, which would allow Metropolitan to distribute the water to existing water treatment plants. The purified wastewater could then mix with Metropolitan's other water sources before it is delivered to customers.
Esquivel called Pure Water a "critical 21st century investment" in the region's water future.
"This project won't just benefit supply: As this wastewater is recycled, it is also diverted away from the ocean, reducing impacts on marine ecosystems and water quality," he said in a statement.
Metropolitan officials expressed their appreciation for the state funding as the agency works to address challenges to its water supplies.
"I am deeply grateful to the state for their support of Pure Water as we embark on an aggressive agenda to prepare for the challenging decades ahead," Dennis Erdman, Metropolitan board director, said in a statement.