$250M sets up water projects

MWD'S investments could bring supply to 100,000 households

The Metropolitan Water District plans to spend up to $250 million on four nontraditional water projects that, combined, could supply up to 100,000 Southern California households over the next few years.

Wastewater recycling, rainwater reclamation and transforming ocean water into drinking water are some of the technologies that could get money in the coming wave of funding from MWD.

The Los Angeles-based wholesaler, which helps transfer water from Northern California and the Colorado River to 26 retail water districts in the Los Angeles region, has spent about $700 million on smaller, nontraditional water projects since launching its Local Resources Program in 1990. The amounts announced Monday represent some of MWD’S biggest investments in water innovation to date.

Though the projects won’t be financed directly by MWD (retail water districts and others initially will use MWD’S promises to secure their own financing and, later, to pay down their debts) agency officials said the broader goal is to keep supplying affordable water to local residents and businesses even as climate change reduces or eliminates the region’s traditional supplies.

“It’s been good fortune that we aren’t still in a drought. But we need to plan for that reality,” said Rebecca Kimitch, a spokeswoman for the district.

While the past two rainy seasons have been unusually wet in Southern California, climate scientists and water planners believe the heavy rains and snowstorms have been part of a boom-bust weather pattern associated with climate change in which rainy years punctuate longer stretches of drought or near-drought conditions. Over the long term, as snow packs shrink and the Colorado River becomes shallower, Southern California is expected to get less water from outside sources.

All four of the projects financed by Metropolitan Water could help produce, or reclaim, more local water. They are:

• A waste and groundwater purification

ANJALI SHARIF-PAUL — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER MWD GM Adel Hagekahlil said Monday his agency will spend up to $250 million on water projects.