West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) has received $3.79 million in federal funding for its North Gardena Recycled Water Lateral and Mills Memorial Park Recycled Water Lateral projects. Project funding was made possible through the support of Rep. Maxine Waters, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Sen. Alex Padilla. Through their combined efforts, West Basin was able to secure key funding in the fi nal Fiscal Year 2022 Energy and Water Appropriations measure, which was signed by President Biden last week. West Basin’s two recycled water projects together received the highest funding amount of any California-based Army Corps construction project of its type to be included in the appropriations bill. “West Basin is extremely grateful to Rep. Waters, Sen. Feinstein, and Sen. Padilla for securing this critical funding for West Basin’s recycled water program,” said West Basin Board President Donald L. Dear. “This funding comes at an opportune time to extend sustainable water supplies to priority communities in our service area during these historically dry conditions.” The North Gardena project will install 3,700 feet of new pipeline and deliver nearly 6 million gallons per year of recycled water to Peary Middle School and Mas Fukai Park in Gardena, CA. The Mills Memorial Park Recycled Water Lateral project will install an additional 3,000 feet of new pipeline and provide more than 11 million gallons of recycled water annually for use at Curtiss Middle School and Mills Memorial Park in Carson, CA. Both projects will benefit priority communities in the West Basin service area by providing an ongoing, reliable source of recycled water to help maintain beautiful green spaces at local public parks and schools. West Basin’s recycled water program prevents approximately 40 million gallons of treated sewer water from being discharged into the Pacific Ocean each year, instead redirecting it to beneficial use in its recycled water system. West Basin has delivered nearly 250 billion gallons of recycled water since it began producing recycled water in 1995, which is enough water to serve the needs of more than 8 million southern Californians for one year. Recycled water is used for irrigation, groundwater replenishment, protection against seawater intrusion, and various industrial purposes.
