Grant used to complete much-needed, drought-proof Chino Project
Riverside, CA – After years of drought, the Bureau of Reclamation recently announced an additional $7.2 million in grant funding to the Chino Desalter Phase 3 Expansion project to ensure a highly reliable regional water supply.
“The addition of this money will assist in increasing local supply, and we are delighted to see more than $7 million going toward the project,” said John Rossi, general manager of Western Municipal Water District and one of the lead agencies on the project. “After 5 years of drought, it’s important to develop alternative strategies to meeting demand for the future and completing work on the Chino project is one of them.”
The grant, which is a portion of $30 million the government has directed toward water-supply projects throughout California, will benefit the Lower Chino Dairy Area Desalination and Reclamation Project. This venture will produce an additional 10,600 acre-feet of water—enough to help meet the growing annual demands in the region. Of the $7.2 million, Western will receive 33 percent of the funding.
“We also thank Congressman Ken Calvert for his continuing leadership and work on funding these innovative and important projects with a long-term view and regional perspective,” noted Rossi. “Sound planning and investment by local leaders in our infrastructure have led to this successful reliability solution.”
The project, located at 11251 Harrel St. in Jurupa Valley, will provide the region with a highly reliable local source of water and benefit Western, Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Jurupa Community Services District, the cities of Ontario, Norco, Chino and Chino Hills, as well as the Santa Ana River Water Company. All of these agencies are members of the Chino Basin Desalter Authority, a Joint Powers Authority overseeing the expansion and operation of the Desalter.
The $144 million expansion of the Chino Desalter is part of a multi-year, -agency, -million-dollar effort to increase locally sourced water for the region. Furthermore, the expansion will result in improved groundwater quality migrating into the Santa Ana River that will benefit users downstream in Orange County. So far, more than $84 million in grant funding has been obtained for the expansion project, which includes the current grant.
Since 1992, the Bureau of Reclamation’s Title XVI funding has been used to provide communities a new source of clean water, while promoting water energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. To date, $629 million has been contributed to complete more than $3 billion in water use improvements.
Western Municipal Water District provides water supply, wastewater disposal and water resource management to the public in a safe, reliable, environmentally sensitive and financially responsible manner.
