LOS ANGELES—As part of a $250 million commitment to support four water supply projects in Southern California, Los Angeles will receive $139 million over 25 years for its Groundwater Replenishment Project in the San Fernando Valley, officials announced April 15.
Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Board of Directors approved separate agreements with water agencies, including the city of Los Angeles, as part of its Local Resources Program. The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) is a state-established wholesaler that provides water for 19 million people in six counties.
The Local Resources Program aims to provide economic incentives for water developed and produced from groundwater clean-up, water recycling and seawater desalination throughout the agency’s six-county service area.
Under Metropolitan’s agreement with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the funding is expected to support the development of facilities that will purify recycled water to recharge the San Fernando Valley Groundwater Basin aquifer.
The project is expected to produce 19,500 acre-feet of water per year, starting in 2028. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons of water, roughly the amount used by three Southland families in a year, according to MWD.
“For decades, investments in local projects have helped strengthen Southern California’s resiliency by reducing demands for imported water supplies and decreasing the burden on our system,” Nancy Sutley, vice chair of climate action for Metropolitan’s Board of Directors. “Together, with investments in storage and conservation, these projects have become critical as we face the dramatic impacts of climate change that are threatening water sources across Southern California and the western United States.”
Metropolitan General Manager Adel Hagekhalil noted that the Los Angeles’ project will add a “level of water resiliency” to an area that faced mandatory conservation in the middle of a drought in 2022 due to severely limited supplies imported from Northern California.
“These are all incredibly worthy projects that show the true commitment of our member agencies to increasing the reliability of our water supplies in Southern California. We are stronger by working together and all of our region benefits from these investments,” Mr. Hagekhalil said in a statement.
Since 1990, Metropolitan has contributed more than $700 million to 116 local water recycling and groundwater recovery projects throughout Southern California, helping to produce nearly 500,000 acre-feet of water per year, enough to serve roughly 1.5 million Southern California households, according to the agency.
