On Aug. 24, the Soquel Creek Water District announced a $20,925,000 grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the Pure Water Soquel groundwater replenishment and seawater intrusion prevention project.
“The District continues to successfully gain remarkable levels of support for Pure Water Soquel from funding agencies, aimed at providing a drought-resilient, clean, and sustainable water supply and bringing ever-greater benefit to our ratepayers,” said Dr. Tom LaHue, president of the District’s Board of Directors. “We are so grateful for this $21 million grant which, when added to the prior $9 million grant awarded under this grant program, represents a benefit of $2,000 per each of our 15,000 customer accounts. Many thanks to the Bureau of Reclamation for its strong support for preventing further seawater contamination and increasing water reuse in our region.”
The Pure Water Soquel project is the district’s primary means of creating a sustainable alternative water supply to address the critically over-drafted Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin.
When more water is being pumped out than can be naturally replenished and the water level gets too low, seawater enters the basin and contaminates the drinking water supply. This is called seawater intrusion.
In August, more than $310 million was awarded to 25 projects in the west as part of the WaterSMART: Title XVI WIIN Act Water Reclamation and Reuse Projects program.
The federal program identifies opportunities to reclaim and reuse wastewaters and impaired ground and surface water in the 17 western states and Hawaii.
Along California’s central coast, some $54 million was provided for projects in Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, and Monterey, in addition to the grant for Pure Water Soquel.
The Soquel Creek Water District has received funding support for Pure Water Soquel from both the U.S. government and the State of California, including a $50 million State Proposition 1 Groundwater Implementation Grant; a $9 million grant from the Bureau of Reclamation; a $2 million State planning grant; and low-interest loans through the State Seawater Intrusion Control Loan Program and from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program.
“As the Central Coast continues to feel the effects of the mega-drought in the American West, the federal government can play its part by ensuring the proper funding for agreed-upon projects at the local level to save and secure more sources of precious water. An important part of the solution are our local water district projects that already recycle, reclaim, reuse, and replenish our water supply,” said U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley. “The more than $20 million in federal funding that we just got from the bipartisan IIJA for the Soquel Creek Water District will not only help bolster the productivity of the project but also demonstrates the will of the federal government to help us buoy our drought resiliency and water sustainability on the Central Coast.”
Construction of the project is well under way, with parts due for completion in 2023-2024.
It includes advanced water purification center, wastewater recycling equipment at the Santa Cruz Wastewater Treatment Facility, eight miles of pipelines, and three seawater intrusion prevention wells.
Pure Water Soquel will take treated, recycled municipal wastewater and use advanced water treatment methods to produce up to 1,500 acre-feet of purified water annually. This purified water will then be sent to seawater intrusion prevention/recharge wells to replenish the over-drafted Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin.
This basin, the sole source of water for District customers and other MidCounty residents, is designated by the State of California as one of 21 basins in the state to be critically over-drafted.
Recharging the basin with purified, clean, safe water is expected to create and maintain a barrier against seawater contamination and provide a high-quality, reliable, and sustainable water supply for generations.