November 21, 2024 – WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior on Monday announced a $125 million investment for five projects in California and Utah that will help create new sources of water and improve drought resiliency.  

These investments support the Department’s new Large-Scale Water Recycling Program, launched in 2023 with new funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The new program incentivizes conservation projects at a larger scale, with no cap on project size, and will play an important role in helping communities develop local, drought-resistant water supplies by turning unusable water sources into clean, reliable ones. 

"The President’s Investing in America agenda is making transformational investments in climate resilience in communities across America," said Secretary Deb Haaland. "Through the Large-Scale Water Recycling program, the Department is ensuring that communities in the West have the resources they need to safeguard water supplies and ensure this precious resource is available for generations to come." 

"This effort to diversify our tools by taking previously unusable water sources and turning them into new supplies will be instrumental in managing through drought," said Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. "These historic investments are allowing these communities to build and expand infrastructure to recycle large amounts of water to meet growing needs."  

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda represents the largest investment in climate resilience in the nation’s history and is providing much-needed resources to enhance Western communities’ resilience to drought and climate change. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Reclamation is investing a total of $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure projects, including rural water, water storage, conservation and conveyance, nature-based solutions, dam safety, water purification and reuse, and desalination. Since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed in November 2021, Reclamation has announced more than $3.5 billion for more than 530 projects.   

The projects selected are: 

• $60.4 million for the City of San Buenaventura’s Ventura Water Program. It is estimated to produce 3,600 acre-feet of recycled water annually. 
• $30 million for the Los Angeles Groundwater Replenishment Project. The project is estimated to produced 26,000 acre-feet annually.  
• $26.2 million for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Pure Water Southern California. The project is estimated to produce 118,590 acre-feet annually. 
• $10.8 million for the Inland Empire Utilities Agency of California Advanced Treatment of Recycled Water to Enhance Chino Basin Resiliency Project. The project is estimated to produce 15,000 acre-feet annually. 
• $641,222 for the Washington County Water Conservancy District, Utah’s Regional Reuse system, which is estimated to produce 28,373 acre-feet annually.  

This second round of funding builds upon the announcement of $179 million in May. This funding also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain climate, clean energy, and other federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Source & photo credit: DOI