California to lose 10% of water supply by 2040; Newsom urges districts to find new ways to boost water supply
As a result of the ever-worsening drough, water districts to craft new ways to pump up their water supplies.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California is set to lose 10% of its water supply by 2040 prompting him to present a new plan and funding to stop the runoff through several solutions such as recycling more wastewater — something that the Las Virgenes Municpal Water District has already invested in.
"The water we are beginning with at this process is already highly treated recycled water," said spokesperson Riki Clark. "This pure water that we're getting from this process is some of the purest, cleanest water you can get anywhere on Earth."
The district has implemented recycled wastewater to water golf course and lawns amid the drought. However, through ultra filtration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet lights, the water is purified enough to drink. Clark said it mimics how water is recycle and reused in nature.
The Pure Water Project started in 2013 and is on track to be fully-operational in six years supplementing 15-20% of the region's water supply.
"This isn't new," she said. "We're doing what's already being done with this process."
Clark added that other states and countries like Singapore and Australia have implemented this process. The idea has spread to other agencies in the area such as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
"It's going to treat 150 million gallons a day, of wastewater, and make it pure water that we can recharge our groundwater basins for use," said MWDSP General Manager Adel Hagekhalil.
The MWDSP is also building a facility in Carson to focus on underground storage and man-made reservoirs in order to bolster the regions water supply.
"That's gonna be the new normal," said Hagekhalil. "We're going to have a lot of rain and a lot of water coming in a short period of time and what we need to do is capture it and store it and put it in our savings account everywhere. So, when we need it we can pull from our savings."