Project to develop new local water supply for Southern California gets second federal funding boost

A project that will make Southern California more resilient to climate change by purifying and reusing cleaned wastewater will receive a second infusion of funds from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Reclamation announced Monday (Nov. 18) it will award a $26.2 million large-scale water recycling grant to Pure Water Southern California, a regional water recycling project being developed by Metropolitan Water District and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. The new grant comes on top of $99.2 million in federal funds awarded to the project in May. Reclamation also announced funding for other recycling projects across the Southwest as part of the Department of Interior's new Large-Scale Water Recycling Program, launched in 2023 with funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

"Climate change is stressing water supplies across the Southwest. We're already seeing hotter, drier conditions, and it is only going to get more challenging in the decades ahead. So we've got to make big investments in reliable, sustainable water supplies. We're thrilled that our federal partners are supporting these efforts," Metropolitan Interim General Manager Deven Upadhyay said.

Metropolitan and the Sanitation Districts are partnering on the Pure Water project, which will take cleaned wastewater that is currently sent to the ocean and purify it using an advanced, multi-stage purification process to produce high-quality drinking water. If approved by Metropolitan's board at full scale, the program will produce 150 million gallons of water each day - enough to meet the demands of 1.5 million people.

"This is a huge project - potentially one of the largest water recycling projects in the world - that will benefit not only the 19 million people of Southern California, but the entire state and Southwest," said Metropolitan board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. "It will help lower demands on our imported water sources from the Colorado River and on the Northern Sierra. And it will help keep the economic engine of Southern California running, regardless of the future drought conditions we may face."

The federal funds announced Monday will help advance planning and design work and improvements to existing infrastructure needed for the project. Metropolitan and the Sanitation Districts are in the process of drafting the project's Environmental Impact Report, which they expect to make available for public review in 2025. The first water could be delivered from the project as early as 2033.

The federal funding comes from the newly established Large-Scale Water Recycling Program, funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides $450 million over five years to large water recycling projects in the West. More than $125 million in grants were announced Monday, adding to the $179 million in grants announced in May. In addition to Pure Water Southern California, grant funds were also awarded to large-scale recycling projects being developed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the city of Ventura, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, and the Washington County Water Conservation District in Utah.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail suppliers, provides water for 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.