The Secretary of the Interior will be recommending a $6 million grant award for construction of the Pure Water Oceanside project. The funding will be awarded via the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART: Title XVI WIIN Water Reclamation and Reuse Projects funding opportunity. Oceanside is one of seven applicants being named in the Federal appropriations process for this funding.
Through the Title XVI program, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation provides grants to water districts and communities to reclaim and reuse wastewater and impaired ground and surface water in the Western United States. The funding may be used for the planning, design or construction of water recycling and reuse projects.
Scheduled to be complete in 2022, Pure Water Oceanside will purify recycled water to create a new local source of high-quality drinking water that is clean, safe, drought-proof and environmentally sound. The project will provide more than 32% of the City of Oceanside’s water supply, or 3 to 5 million gallons per day, and be the first operating advanced water purification facility in San Diego County. Currently, the City imports approximately 85% of its drinking water from the Sacramento Bay Delta and the Colorado River, which are hundreds of miles away. Construction for the project is underway and includes a new water purification facility, pipelines under Douglas Drive and North River Road, three injection wells in Coco Palms, as well as monitoring wells.
“The City has made incredible strides to ensure that the project is affordable for the local community through multiple grant, loan and incentive programs through the EPA, the Department of Water Resources as well as Metropolitan Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority. The funding from the Bureau of Reclamation is the icing on the cake and we are absolutely thrilled to add the Bureau as our newest partner on this important project,” noted Cari Dale, Water Utilities Director.
The City also received $3.115 million in state grant funding for the project from the Department of Water Resources. These funds result from Proposition 1, a bond measure approved by voters in 2014 to improve water infrastructure statewide. The EPA selected Pure Water Oceanside and portions of Oceanside’s recycled systems for a Federal WIFIA loan. The interest rate on the loan was 1.20%. Additionally, Metropolitan Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority also approved Local Resources Program funding, which provides a financial incentive to develop local water supplies.
