California water recycling plant earns $26 million to supply Lake Mead

Toilet water in Los Angeles will soon reduce pressure on Lake Mead, thanks in part to a $26.2 million increase announced Monday.

The recycled water will benefit Nevada and other states and tribes that rely on the lake for their drinking water.

Named the Pure Water Southern California Project, when active it will generate enough water to serve nearly 386,000 homes, according to a press release from U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.

The funds, from the bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021, are intended for construction of the project. It received $99 million in May from the same federal fund.

“I created a large-scale water recycling program through the bipartisan Infrastructure Act to support this cutting-edge initiative to strengthen our water supply and protect critical water resources like the Lake Mead,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “I am pleased to see these funds come to help us combat drought across the West.”

Las Vegas has been a leader in water reclamation for years, recycling hundreds of millions of gallons of toilet water and wastewater each day and returning it to Lake Mead via the Las Vegas Wash.

For this new project, the Southern Nevada Water Authority contributed $750 million in 2021 in exchange for a share of California’s water from Lake Mead. The Metropolitan Water District estimates the project will be operational in 2032.

“This investment will conserve more water in Lake Mead, reduce demand on our precious water resources, and build long-term resilience for sustainable water use in the West,” said the US representative. Susie Lee, Democrat of Nevada, in a statement. additional funding.

Las Vegas Review Journal 2024. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.