As LA plans to recycle more water, officials want to hear from you

As two landmark water recycling projects slowly move forward, officials want to hear from you.

First up: the city of L.A.’s effort to convert the Hyperion wastewater treatment plant. The goal is to recycle all that treated wastewater that currently ends up in the ocean. The city is hosting a meeting in June to provide information about the project and to solicit feedback.

Second, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California recently released its draft environmental impact report for their regional water recycling project, a partnership with L.A. County Sanitation Districts. The water recycling facility is in Carson and the MWD will take public comment through July 14 online, as well as through upcoming community meetings.

What are these projects and why do they matter?

Both projects would treat wastewater, which currently winds up in the ocean, to meet drinkable standards for use at our homes and businesses (here’s more on that process).

They’re the largest water recycling projects of their kind in the region and experts say they're needed to help reduce L.A. city and county’s reliance on its two main sources of water: the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado River. Those sources are being stretched thin by overuse and human-caused climate change.

As global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, California is set to lose 10% of its total water supply in the next 15 years — to put that into context, that’s more water than the state’s largest reservoir, Lake Shasta, can hold at capacity.

The city of L.A.’s project aims to recycle up to 230 million gallons of water per day by 2056. At full capacity, the MWD’s project would produce 150 million gallons of purified water daily by the mid-2030s at the earliest.

For context, the city of L.A. alone uses an average of 426 million gallons of water per day.

The projects are expected to generate thousands of jobs, but they come at a high cost — about $21 billion over the next 30 years for L.A. city’s project, and up to $9 billion for MWD’s project. That will likely lead to increases in water rates, though how much has yet to be determined.

Whats next?

You can learn more and submit your comments for L.A. City’s water recycling investment at a community meeting on at 10 a.m. June 7, or via email: PureWaterLosAngeles@ladwp.com.

You can learn more and submit comments for the Metropolitan Water District’s water recycling project at several meetings coming up in June, or online through July 14.