House Democrats pump up water recycling bill
House Democrats and Western water providers yesterday pressed for more federal investment in water recycling as the region faces a deepening drought.
California Rep. Jared Huffman (D) touted the "Large-Scale Water Recycling Project Investment Act," H.R. 4099, which would create a new $750 million federal grant program.
Such projects are "drought-proof," Huffman said at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, which he chairs.
The Democrat asked Bureau of Reclamation officials "whether we need to dramatically change the scale" of wastewater recycling in the West, as nearly half of the country is now experiencing drought conditions.
The problem is particularly acute in California and the Southwest, according to the federal drought monitor, where most areas are in severe to exceptional drought.
Huffman, a co-sponsor of the bill, said such projects are a "win-win" for water supply and reusing water for environmental purposes.
This bill is sponsored by fellow California Democrat Grace Napolitano (E&E Daily, June 25). She echoed Huffman's call for more federal involvement.
"The federal government has a critical role to play in working with local water managers," Napolitano said, saying the project will create jobs and boost local economies and can come online relatively quickly — in two years or less.
The largest wholesale water provider in the country agreed. Deven Upadhyay of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides water to 19 million people, detailed their Regional Recycled Water Program.
At full scale, the wastewater project would be the largest purification facility in the U.S., producing 150 million gallons daily and providing enough water for 500,000 households annually.
It would also allow Metropolitan, which now provides water by importing it from the Colorado River and Northern California, to generate water locally, he said.
"The long-term solutions to the Colorado River are going to require augmentation and partnerships," Upadhyay said.
But the project is costly, with a total price tag of about $4 billion, he added. That's where other Colorado River partners, like water providers in Nevada and Arizona, as well as the federal government should come in, he said.
Nevada has already stepped up, providing funding to explore the project. They would then engage in a water "exchange" when it comes online, with Metropolitan using the purified wastewater and leaving behind its water in Lake Mead on the Colorado River for Nevada to draw upon when it needs it.
John Entsminger of the Southern Nevada Water Authority said projects like Metropolitan are "vitally important" to his state because opportunities to recycle or reuse water have been virtually exhausted in Nevada, which receives little rainfall and, like most of the Colorado River basin, has suffered through drought conditions for years. He also pressed Congress to act.
"Now is the time for strong congressional leadership and significant federal investment, which is needed to reduce risk and improve resiliency to drought and changing climate conditions," he said.
By: Jeremy P. Jacobs
Source: E&E News
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