New federal funds will help Southern California weather megadrought

Nearly $310 million in federal funds from the infrastructure bill approved last November will help pay for projects that promise to capture, store and recycle more water in the drought-ridden West, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Thursday at a press conference in Irvine.

Syphon Reservoir in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. The capacity of the reservoir will be increased from 500 acre-feet of water to 5,000 acre-feet as part of the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project, which is getting funding as part of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Paul Cook, general manager of the of Irvine Ranch Water District, talks about the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project as he stands on the banks of the reservoir in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland addresses the media during a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Irvine Ranch Water District equipment sits below Rattlesnake Reservoir in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. New pumping equipment will be installed at the site as part of the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project which is getting funding as part of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, during a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, left, Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Paul Cook, general manager of the of Irvine Ranch Water District, right, tour the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project before a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Paul Cook, general manager of the of Irvine Ranch Water District, talks to the media, as he stands with Wade Crowfoot, California’s Natural Resources Secretary, left, Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, and Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, during a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, address the media, along with Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), left, and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, during a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, during a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), left, and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland chat during a tour of the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project before a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Syphon Reservoir in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. The capacity of the reservoir will be increased from 500 acre-feet of water to 5,000 acre-feet as part of the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project, which is getting $12,245,625 in funding as part of $309.8 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, center, addresses the media as she stands with Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), left, and Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, during a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Irvine Ranch Water District equipment sits below Rattlesnake Reservoir in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. New pumping equipment will be installed at the site from funding from President Biden’s $309.8 million Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) during a press conference announcing the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $1 million in appropriated funding for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country in Irvine, CA, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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The vast majority of that money will help pay for projects in California, including $12 million to expand an Irvine reservoir that serves central Orange County, $10 million to increase recycled water supplies in eastern Riverside County and $15 million to boost a groundwater recycling program in Los Angeles County.

That money, from last year’s infrastructure package, soon will be supplemented by $4 billion dedicated to other long-term water programs in the Inflation Reduction Bill that President Joe Biden signed into law Tuesday. Haaland said the combined spending represents “some of the largest investments in drought resilience in our nation’s history, showing the urgent need to minimize the impacts of drought and to develop a long-term plan.”

Officials are just beginning to meet with key water agencies and users across the country to discuss how that additional $4 billion will be spent, said Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner with the Bureau of Reclamation. Touton did not rule out the possibility that some of the money could be used to pay farmers in the Imperial Valley and other parts of California to keep their fields fallow while the megadrought persists.

While Republicans continue to criticize the price tags on the infrastructure and inflation bills, at $1.2 trillion and $739 billion respectively, Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, who also joined Thursday’s press conference in her hometown, said she was proud to support both packages. She suggested spending now on long-term projects that will reduce the need for imported water in the future is the “fiscally responsible” thing to do.

“The longer we wait to take action, the harder and more expensive it will become to solve both the water crisis and climate change,” Porter said.

It’s estimated that the 20 projects in California funded by the infrastructure bill — which include projects in Big Bear, Jurupa Valley and Coachella Valley — will save a combined 166,000 acre feet of water once they are complete, Touton said. Each acre foot is enough to serve two to four households for one year.

Any savings that come from projects in Sacramento and other parts of Northern California will alleviate pressure on the State Water Project. Southern California projects also will help reduce how much water local districts will need to get from the Colorado River, which is severely strained after years of letting states pull out more water than the river takes in amid climate change and a historic drought.

While every bit helps, the 166,000 acre feet in savings from these projects will largely come several years down the road, with the Irvine project, for example, expected to be complete in 2028. And these savings are a drop in the bucket compared to the cuts experts say are needed to provide long-term stability to Colorado River supplies, with California still allowed to pump 4 million acre feet of water from the river each year.

Seven western states have been at an impasse for months over how best to meet federally mandated cuts on the water they use from the Colorado River. Some 40 million Americans living in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California rely on the river for at least some portion of their water supply under a 100-year-old agreement and a series of court decisions to divvy up the rights. California takes the most, at 27% of total allocations, to keep crops in places like the Imperial Valley growing and to help keep taps flowing across Southern California.

Touton in mid-June gave those states 60 days to agree on a way to cut the amount of water pulled from the river by at least 15%, or about 2 million acre feet, this year. Otherwise, experts say water levels at key reservoirs such as Lake Mead and Lake Powell that are fed by the Colorado River are poised to get so low that no one will be able to pump water or generate needed hydroelectric power from Hoover and Glen Canyon dams.

Meetings have taken place behind closed doors, and water officials have largely been mum about the details. But the Aug. 15 deadline passed without an agreement.

Asked Thursday about the potential for federally mandated cuts or a new deadline for states to agree on reducing allocations, Touton referred to Tuesday’s announcement that Arizona, Nevada and Mexico, which also has rights to pump water from the river that ends in the Gulf of California, will face new restrictions on how much water they can draw from the river next year. Touton said federal officials are still “engaged” in talks with states and other stakeholders because they feel “the solution for this basin is one of consensus.”

The new cuts so far won’t affect California, which holds more senior water rights. But experts say water in Lake Mead could reach levels by the end of this year that might trigger similar cuts in Southern California, which gets as much as a third of its water from the river.

Unprecedented cuts already hit some 6 million residents in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties this spring. To relieve pressure on the State Water Project, the Metropolitan Water District required major water providers in those areas to either restrict outdoor watering to once a week or to cut total water use to fixed levels.

Now some 4 million people who live in Los Angeles County have been told they’ll have to stop most outdoor watering entirely for two weeks in September because urgent repairs to a pipeline from the Colorado River will temporarily restrict those flows.

Orange County so far hasn’t felt those cuts because local water districts have been able to turn to sources other than the Colorado River, such as groundwater basins and recycled water, to supplement their supplies.

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Irvine Ranch Water District, for example, can now store 578 acre feet of recycled wastewater in its Syphon Reservoir, in eastern Irvine, to help supply homes during hot summer months. The expansion, which will get about 8% of its total $146 million price tag covered through funding from the infrastructure bill, will boost that storage nearly tenfold, to about 5,000 acre feet of water. Paul Cook, manager of Irvine Ranch Water, said the extra storage will go a long way toward helping his district be less reliant on pricey, imported water, with expected savings of $100 million over 50 years.

That’s the idea behind all of the projects targeted with funds from the infrastructure bill, Touton said, to help achieve a “more durable water solution in the West.”