“The East County Advanced Water Purification Program will provide a new local water supply and eliminate the need to send most of East County’s wastewater to the City of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is currently treated and then discharged into the ocean,” said Kyle Swanson, Padre Dam CEO/General Manager and Administrator for the East County JPA. “The East County Advanced Water Purification Program will benefit not only our customers and the community, but our shared environment too.”
“As California adapts to an increasingly arid climate, expanding our water supply portfolio with 21st century investments in water recycling, like the East County Advanced Water Purification program is critical,” said Joaquin Esquivel, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board. “Thanks to state and federal leadership, we have a generational opportunity to support the affordability and viability of this and other water supply projects throughout the state. Local leadership and vision are what have made this project a reality and helped to show that we can turn climate anxiety into climate action."
To date, the Program has already secured more than $123 million in grant funding and up to $796 million in low interest loans to help finance the Program. East County AWP Program officials anticipate receiving additional state and federal grant funding to help pay for the Project.
Officials in attendance included representatives from the East County AWP Joint Powers Authority, San Diego County Water Authority, Bureau of Reclamation, Metropolitan Water District, the U.S. EPA and San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.
