INLAND EMPIRE, CA – On November 18, the U.S. Department of Interior, United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR/Reclamation) selected the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA/Agency) as a recipient of over $10.8 million for the Advanced Treatment of Recycled Water to Enhance Chino Basin Resiliency Project.
“Investing in large-scale water recycling is a vital step toward securing drought resilient water supplies for our community,” stated IEUA Board President Marco Tule. “These transformative projects, like IEUA’s Chino Basin Program, are essential to safeguarding our water supplies, turning previously unusable water into a sustainable resource that ensures future generations have access to the water they need to thrive.”
These investments are part of the U.S. Department of Interior’s newly launched WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) Large-Scale Water Recycling Projects, which began in 2023 with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Large-Scale Water Recycling Projects focuses on developing local, drought-resistant water supplies through water recycling. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, $450 million was allocated to this program and eligible projects must have a total project cost of $500 million or more. To-date, only five projects, including IEUA’s, have been considered for funding.
The Agency’s Advanced Treatment of Recycled Water to Enhance Chino Basin Resiliency Project is part of the Chino Basin Program, which will develop an additional 15,000 acre-feet per year of advanced purified recycled water that will be stored in the Chino Basin. IEUA was selected for anticipated funding in the amount of $10,856,662 in support of construction project components of the Chino Basin Program.
“It is a tremendous privilege to be one of the five projects that have been considered for funding through this new and unique grant program. We are grateful for USBR’s support of this important regional project. It is projects like the Chino Basin Program that are built on collaboration with regional, state, and federal partners that will ultimately ensure a reliable water supply that can meet the ever evolving and growing demands of our communities in the West,” continued Tule.
For more information on the Chino Basin Program, click here.
For more information on the Large-Scale Water Recycling Program, click here.
For more information about the funding announcement, click here.