WateReuse California Review - September 2023

This month WRCA organized an agency panel presentation for the Water Board on the draft Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) regulations. The panel included Dave Pedersen, President of WateReuse California and GM of Las Virgenes Municipal Water District; Rick Callender, CEO of Valley Water; David Pettijohn, Director of Water Resources, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Deven Upadhyay, Assistant GM of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Shane Trussell, President of Trussell Technologies Inc.

The panel stressed the need for flexibility and adaptability in managing treatment, monitoring, and compliance for DPR projects. Water Board members were all in attendance and asked questions. Since the presentation, the Water Board’s Division of Drinking Water has indicated it will be releasing a revised draft sometime in October for a 15-day comment period.

Photo: WateReuse California Panel on DPR Regulations at the Water Board, September 7, 2023.

Join WRCA November 5-7 for its annual conference in Indian Wells California at the Hyatt Regency. Advanced registration deadline closes soon.  

Highlights include:

• Keynote Speaker: Peter Annin, Author, Purified: How Recycled Sewage Is Transforming Our Water, a comprehensive exploration of the history and potential of water reuse
• Monday Awards Luncheon: Come celebrate the people and projects that have won the  2023 California Awards of Excellence 
• DPR Tuesday Plenary Session: It’s the Final Countdown
  • Gain Insights as WRCA Closes in on Its 13 Year Goal to Adopt Statewide DPR Regulations
• Townhall Panel Session: Colorado River Reuse Crisis and Reuse Opportunities
• Networking Opportunities: Sunday Welcome Reception, President’s Reception, Chapter Mixer and more

On October 4, 2023, the Water Board will hold a public hearing/workshop to present the details of the proposed Making Conservation a California Way of Life regulation. WRCA will testify and is preparing a comment letter that will detail specific changes needed to reflect statutory provisions for recycled water/potable reuse and ensure that the reporting requirements are as streamlined as possible.This letter will be posted on the WRCA website soon.

This month WRCA held a regulatory forum in which the WRCA Board and Legislative-Regulatory Committee reviewed the reuse provisions of this regulation in detail. Please see the attached overview prepared by the Irvine Ranch Water District. For more information, please contact Rosario Cortés at rcortes@watereuse.org.

WateReuse California has four standing committees:

Agricultural Reuse Committee, Communications Collaborative Group Committee, Legislative and Regulatory Committee, and Potable Reuse Permitting and Compliance Committee.

These committees are designed to allow member organizations a direct way to engage in their most related reuse field. Any individual belonging to a WRCA member is eligible to join. If you are interested in joining any of these committees, please complete the interest form: