
Washington Update

Contact Your Member of Congress to Advocate for Water Recycling Funding
Member Survey: Share Your Comments on the Draft National Water Reuse Action Plan by Wednesday
State Updates and Member Profiles

Welcome New Members!
The WateReuse Association welcomes the following new members:
- City of Davis, California
- Cyclopure, Inc.
California: WateReuse California Surveys Water Reuse Funding Needs
WateReuse California is surveying California utilities to support a 2020 water bond strategy that could include significant funding for water recycling projects. To best position reuse in these ongoing discussions, WRCA is asking California water agencies to share their funding needs for reuse over the next 5 to 10 years. To complete the short survey, click here.
California: Metropolitan, Sanitation Districts Launch New Water Recycling Facility
Two WateReuse Association members, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, celebrated the start of operations at the Regional Recycled Water Advanced Purification Center. The 500,000-gallon-per-day demonstration facility takes effluent from the Sanitation Districts’ Joint Water Pollution Control Plant and purifies it using a process that begins with membrane bioreactors followed by reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light and advanced oxidation. The 15-month pilot is in preparation for a full-scale plant that could potentially produce up to 150 million gallons of purified water daily – enough to serve more than 500,000 homes and industrial facilities. Read More.
California: Ventura Approves $200 Million Plan to Purify Water for Drinking
The City of Ventura approved a $200 million plan to increase drinking water resources and reduce the treated wastewater released into the Santa Clara River estuary. Through indirect potable reuse, the new plant will add about 4,000 acre-ft. of water per year to the city’s groundwater supplies. When the new treatment plant is up and running in 2025, about 1.9 million gallons per day of treated water will be released to the river, compared to the 7.9 million gallons per day currently released. Read More.
Kansas: Hays Overhauls Treatment Plant, Expands Reuse Capacity
WateReuse Association member the City of Hays recently completed an upgrade to the Chetolah Creek Water Reclamation and Reuse Facility, which was overhauled to meet future nitrogen and phosphorus limits. Hays uses its recycled water for irrigation at sports fields and the municipal golf course. Recycled water is also available to the community through an adjacent fill station. Read More.
Research Update
Bureau of Reclamation Announces Funding for Desalination Research
The Bureau of Reclamation has released a funding opportunity for research under its Desalination and Water Purification Research Program. Funding of up to $250,000 is available for laboratory scale projects and up to $800,000 per proposal for pilot-scale projects. Applicants for desalination and water purification research project funding must submit their proposals by December 4. Learn More.
WRF Seeks Proposals to Assess Research Needs for Stormwater Reuse
The Water Research Foundation (WRF) is seeking proposals for a project to evaluate the state of the knowledge and research needs for stormwater reuse. The project will examine variations in stormwater harvesting at regional and state levels and develop a synthesis document, which will include recommendations on preliminary project concepts. Applicants may request up to $20,000 from WRF with at least 33 percent of the project costs coming from other sources. Learn More.
Conferences and Events
Upcoming Events
For more information contact Rosario Cortes
Tour of the San Jose Creek WRP will follow starting at 1:15 pm
Hosted by Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, and lunch will be sponsored by AECOM.
For in-person attendance, please RSVP to jjacobus@rinconconsultants.com by Friday, February 10. Virtual attendance option also available.
For more information contact Madeline Blua

February 15, 2023 Time: 1:00pm CT | 2:00pm ET
As a global leader in water reuse, Israel takes a very intentional and integrated approach to producing and maintaining its water supply. They combine desalination, water recycling of municipal wastewater and stormwater capture, and reuse to ensure sustainable supplies. Nearly 90 percent of Israel’s treated wastewater is reused for agricultural irrigation purposes.
In November 2022, over 40 representatives from the U.S. water sector, including utilities, industry, states, and the federal government, traveled to Israel as part of a science, technology, and policy informational exchange focused on water reuse practices. This intensive week of learning about the Israeli approach to managing its water resources included several delegates from Texas.
The panelists will share their general experience as part of the delegation (5-10 mins each) and then we will ask a few prepared questions about lessons learned and how those could be applied to Texas communities. If time allows, we will take questions from the audience.
Moderator:
Paula Paciorek, Division Manager, Houston Water Planning
Presenters:
- Special Introduction by Omer Bab, Director of Trade and Regulatory Policy, Embassy of Israel and Danny Greenwald, Senior Deputy Director General for Regulation, Israel Water Authority
- Eva Steinle-Darling, Water Reuse Technical Practice Director, Carollo Engineers
- Hunter Adams, Environmental Laboratory Supervisor, City of Wichita Falls – Cypress Environmental Laboratory
- Erika Crespo, Assistant Deputy Director, Water Quality Division, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
- Kobe Nagar, CEO and Co-Founder, 374 Water
Add to Calendar
Key topic will be on urban runoff diversions; more details forthcoming.
For more information contact Kraig Erickson
For more information contact Claudia Llerandi
Please contact Jennifer West for details
For more information contact Jennifer West