Stimulus dollars bring recycled water to Rosemead, San Gabriel Valley
Rebecca Kimitch
Pasadena Star-News
08/15/2010
ROSEMEAD - Last year's $800 billion federal economic stimulus package is bringing something increasingly valuable to Rosemead parks, schools and businesses: recycled sewage water.
The recycled water, treated to high levels that make it safe for human contact but not considered drinkable, will soon flow through a new pipeline to nourish and irrigate lawns and greenways in the area.
The $3.2 million pipeline was constructed by the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District with the help of a $600,000 federal stimulus grant. And upon its recent completion, it became the first recycled water project completed with stimulus funds in Southern California.
"Every acre-foot of water you recycle is an acre less you have to import," Wolfe said. "As Southern California continues to grow ... the only choices for new water supplies are water conservation and water recycling."
The new Rosemead pipeline, which will bring recycled water to lawns at Southern California Edison, Wal-Mart, and other area businesses, schools, parks and medians, will save enough potable water to meet the annual needs of more than 1,200 homes, according to Peter Rodriguez, Upper District community and government affairs manager.
Through the stimulus package, the Bureau of Reclamation allocated $135 million to water recycling and similar projects across the West, with $109 million of that going to projects in Southern California.
Typically the Bureau receives only $10 million to $20 million annually for water recycling projects.
Upper District board members hope that the agency's timely use of stimulus funds, and its distinction of having the first completed stimulus-funded water recycling project, will put it in a good position to compete for future federal funds.
"It just bodes well for Upper District. ... We are really becoming very well known in doing water reclamation projects that come in early and under budget," board member Anthony Fellow said.
"It puts us on the map," agreed board member Charles Trevino.
The agency also received an approximately $4.8million stimulus grant for a much larger $32 million project to deliver recycled water to customers in Industry, Wolfe said.
Construction on that project has begun and officials hope to have recycled water flowing through it by next March, Rodriguez said.
The latest water recycling projects add to a network of recycled water pipes built in recent years by Upper District that deliver recycled water to Whittier Narrows, Rose Hills Memorial Park, and South El Monte High School, among other places.
In addition to recycling sewage water for irrigation, officials are planning a more than $200 million project to recycle water to drinking-level standards, using reverse osmosis, similar to what is being done in Orange County.
