Philip L. Anthony

Director, Orange County Water District - California, USA

Presentation to

12th International Riversymposium and

7th IWA World Congress on Water Reclamation and Reuse

Brisbane, Australia – September 21, 2009

WATER RECYCLING AND REUSE…

KEYS TO MANAGEMENT OFWATERSHEDS WORLDWIDE

CALIFORNIA WATER

1913

1939

Delta1960s

Central

Valley

Project1931

State Water

Project 1960s

41%

42%

19%

42%

Sac River66%

Owens Valley71% Colorado

90%

RESERVOIR & SNOWCAP

CONDITIONS

(August 16, 2009)

CALIFORNIA’S WORSENING WATER CRISIS

Hardest Hit – the Western San Joaquin Valley

• Imported Water Lost from Both State and Federal Projects

• Groundwater Storage Failing Fast – 100,000 GL Less

than 1962

• 120,000 Hectares of Farmland Idled

• 35,000 Farm Jobs Lost

• $830 Million in Farm Revenue Lost

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IMPACTS

• 3 - 4 Years of Drought

• LA Aqueduct Losses

• Metropolitan Water District’s

Imported Water

Colorado River Losses

State Water Project Losses

20% Rate Increases

“Allocations” Started

July 1, 2009

• Groundwater Overdrafting

Everywhere

San Luis Reservoir

Before and Now. Gov.

Schwarzenegger

Declares Emergency

2007 2008 2009 2010

3,000 GL

2,200 GL

1,700 GL

METROPOLITAN STORAGE RESOURCESEnd of Year Balances

900 GL

THE SANTA ANA RIVER

• Longest Coastal River in Southern California

• 130 Km from Highest Mountains to Pacific Ocean

• Watershed of 690,000 Hectares

• Historically, a Seasonal Stream, with Winter Storm Flows

and Occasional Heavy Flooding

PacificOcean

OrangeCountyBasin

SanGabriel

Mtns..

LosAngeles

San Bernardino Mtns.

SanJacintoMtns.

SantaAna

Mtns.

The Santa Ana River Watershed

ChinoBasin

Mojave Desert

SanBernardino

Basin

Santa Ana

River

1850s: Early Agriculture Diverts All River Base Flows

1877: First River Litigation… between Two Private Companies

1905: USA Study Says Groundwater Basin Being Overdrafted

1909: Three Counties Start Water Spreading Below Mountains

1925: Basin Over Drafted by 48.5 GL and “Water from Outside the

Basin Needed”

1927: State Forms Metropolitan Water District as Independent

Agency to Import Colorado River Water -- Three County

Cities Members

1930: County Farmers Lobbying for a New Groundwater Basin

Agency

SANTA ANA RIVER HISTORY IN

ORANGE COUNTY

SANTA ANA RIVER HISTORY IN

ORANGE COUNTY

1933: State Forms OCWD as an Independent Agency to Manage

the Basin

1945: Basin Overdrawn 14.8 GL per year and Several Coastal

Wells Lost to Seawater Intrusion

1952: Farm Bureau and Chambers Form the “Committee of

Twelve” to Save the Basin

1954: Committee’s Recommendations Added to OCWD Act

1955: Long Drought Dropped 3,400 Wells in OCWD 11.7 Meters on

Average, Below Sea Level

1956: Basin at Lowest… Seawater Intrusion 5 –7 Km

1963: OCWD Imported 289.6 GL Of Water…Most Ever

1964: Basin at 1944 Levels, but “Tilted”

ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT

1933: State Law Formed the Orange County Water District

(OCWD) as a Local Government Agency with Three

Main Purposes:

1. Manage the Groundwater Basin in Orange County

2. Conserve Groundwater Supplies, Both Quality and

Quantity

3. Protect Orange County Rights to River Flows and Handle

All Litigation

THE ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT

Desired Seawater

Holding Point Injection

Wells

Talbert Aquifer

Production

Wells

Pacific Ocean

Current Extent of Seawater Intrusion

SEAWATER INTRUSION!

NEED FOR A TALBERT GAP SEAWATER BARRIER

• Large Breach into OCWD Groundwater Basin from the Pacific

Ocean

• 1955-1965: Seawater Already Intruded 5 - 7 Km and Wells Lost

• 1960: OCWD Managers and Board Support Concept of Treating

Wastewater for Injection

• 1963: USA Supreme Court Decision Cut Metropolitan’s Firm

Share of Colorado River by 70%... Down to 816 GLY

• 1971: OCWD and State Health Department Agree that Tertiary

Water plus Deep-Well Water or “Desalter” Water Could Be

Injected

• Many Predict No Surplus Imported Water in 20 Years

• How Could OCWD Find a New, Dependable, Everyday, Long-

Term Supply of Fresh Water for a Talbert Gap Barrier???

WATER FACTORY 21

PRADO DAM… A NEW SOURCE OF WATER FOR

OCWD!

1941:

1990:

1992:

2005:

Dam Completed by USA After Destructive 1938

Santa Ana River Flood

OCWD Funded USA Study of Using Dam for Water

Conservation

USA Modifies Dam Operations to Hold Up to 10.6 GL

Between Storms

Dam Operations Modified to Hold Up to 32 GL During

Non-Flood Season

OCWD Persuades USA Congress to Vote for More

Conservation at Prado

Contract to Hold 16 GL During Flood Season and 32 GL

During Non-Flood Season

1985:

2006:

GOVERNMENT REGULATORY AGENCIES

FEDERAL• Army Corps of Engineers

• Bureau of Reclamation

• Environmental Protection Agency

• Fish and Wildlife Service

• United States Geological Survey

STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND COUNTIES• Department of Public Health

• Department of Fish and Game

• State Water Resources Control Board

• Regional Water Quality Control Board

• County Flood Control Districts

• County Health Departments

Ranching Farming

Population Growth and Urbanization

SANTA ANA WATERSHED CHALLENGES

Wastewater Discharges - Growing with Population=

WATERSHED ISSUES/CHALLENGES

• Salt Imbalance: 0.5 Million Metric Tons Per Year

• Dairies: 350,000 Cows on 10,100 Hectares

• Wastewater Discharges: Growing with Population

9 People to Each Cow

MAJOR WASTEWATER

TREATMENT PLANTS

# 1

• 1937: OCWD Takes Over Irvine

Ranch Suit Against Upstream

“Spreaders”

• 1942 : Settled with Reduced

Upstream Spreading and Water

Rights for OCWD

# 2

• 1951: OCWD Sues Four Upstream

Cities to Limit Upstream Production

from the River and to Protect River

Flows into Orange County

• 1957: Settled with Upstream Cities

Held to River Water Used in 1946

# 3

• 1963: OCWD Sues All Upstream…Over 4,000 Defendants…to Adjudicate

Water Rights of All Users Tributary to Prado Dam

• 1969: Settled…

• Allocated Natural River Flows

• Guaranteed 51.8 GLY Base Flow to OCWD

• Gave OCWD Rights to Store and Conserve Water Behind Prado

Dam

• Required Discharged Wastewater to Meet State Standards

• Established Water Master to Oversee Judgment

LAWSUITS…LAWSUITS…LAWSUITS

THE SANTA ANA WATERSHED PROJECT AUTHORITY

“SAWPA”

During Final Negotiations to Settle Lawsuit #3, Four of the Major

Parties Decide They Needed To Find Ways to Work Together

Instead of Suing Each Other!

OCWD and Three Regional Upstream Water Agencies formed the

Santa Ana Watershed Planning Authority

Purpose was to Plan Together to Improve Watershed Water

Quality and Pursue Other Common Interests

Lawsuit #3 Settled with Stipulated Judgment

“Planning Authority” Changed to the Santa Ana Watershed

Project Authority So the Members Could Actually Implement,

Construct and Operate Projects

1967

1969

1973

SAWPA

SANTA ANA RIVER WATERSHED

& SAWPA MEMBER AGENCIES

Santa Ana

River

Interceptor

120 Km Pipeline

System to Take 115

MLD of Non-

Reclaimable Waste

Water from Inland

Counties Directly to

the Ocean

MAJOR SAWPA PROJECTS

Arlington

Desalter

30 MLD RO

Plant to Treat

Groundwater for

Potable Uses

Chino

Desalter I

57 MLD RO and

Ion Exchange

Plant to Treat

Groundwater for

Potable Uses

Chino

Desalter II

38 MLD RO and

Ion Exchange

Plant to Treat

Groundwater for

Potable Reuse

Rapid

Infiltration

System

150 MLD Facility

for Tertiary

Treatment of

City Water for

Discharge to

River

1975 1990 1996 2000 2007

SARI Line

DESALTERS AND BRINELINE IN

THE WATERSHED

GOVERNANCE OF

SAWPA

FIVE

COMMISSIONERS(1 appointed by each

member)

FIVE GM’sCombined staffs

of over 1,200

General

Manager

of SAWPAStaff of about

20

VITAL CURRENT

SAWPA ACTIVITIES

• Operation of Santa Ana

Regional Inceptor (SARI)

• Administrator/Facilitator

of Required Multi-Agency

Task Forces Covering All

or Part of the Watershed

• Leader in Integrated

Regional Watershed

Planning

INTEGRATED REGIONAL WATERSHED PLANNING

• 1996: SAWPA Envisioned Need for Watershed-Wide Plan

• 1998: An “Integrated Water Resources Management Plan”

Prepared and Presented to SAWPA Board. Over Next Two

Years, SAWPA Met with Over 300 Local Entities in

Watershed to Develop Plan

• 2000: CA Voters Approve Prop. 13 with a “Southern

California Integrated Watershed Program” and $235 Million

Allocated to SAWPA to Award Funds to Stakeholders

State Endorsed SAWPA’s Model IRWP. In 2006 a Bond

Passed Mandating All Watersheds use SAWPA’s Model…

“One Water, One Watershed”

SAWPA’s “ONE WATER, ONE WATERSHED”

• Integrated Regional Water Management

Planning for Santa Ana River Watershed

• Over 2,000 Watershed Stakeholders Involved

• Template for Future Statewide Watershed Resource

Planning

• Watershed Planning to Allocate State Bond Funds to

Local Projects

Garry Brown -

Environment

Ali Sahabi -

Business

Marion Ashley –

Riverside Co.

Bill Campbell

Orange Co.

Josie Gonzales -

San Bernardino

Co.

Ron Sullivan –

SAWPAWyatt Troxel –

SAWPA

Ron Loveridge

City of RiversidePat Morris – City of

San Bernardino

Beth Krom –

City of Irvine

OWOW STEERING COMMITTEE

Three Elected County Supervisors

Three Elected Mayors of Large Cities

WHAT IS THE GROUNDWATER

REPLENISHMENT SYSTEM ?

• Larger and Improved Replacement For

World-famous Water Factory 21

• 265 MLD Advanced Water Purification

Facility

• State-of-the-Art Technology

Microfiltration (MF)

Reverse Osmosis (RO)

Ultraviolet Light (UV) With

Hydrogen Peroxide

• Results In Near-distilled-quality Water

• Enough Water for 500,000+ People

Each Year

• Provides 20% of Water Supplies for

OCWD Basin

THE GWR SYSTEM “COLLABORATION” MID-1990s

• Orange County Water District

(OCWD)

Needed 132 MLD GWR System for

Bigger Seawater Barrier

• Orange County Sanitation District

(OCSD)

Needed a New Ocean Outfall for Peak

Flows

• Solution

GWR System Enlarged to 265 MLD With

Capacity to Take 380 MLD Peaks from

OCSD

OCSD Uses Outfall Money to Pay Half of

the Capital Cost of Enlarged GWR

System

TWO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES – TWO BOARDS

OCWD BOARD

• Ex-Mayor/Council 5

• Mayor/Council 3

• Other 2

TOTAL 10

(7 Elected + 3 Appointed

by Elected Bodies)

OCSD BOARD

• Cities 21

• Districts 3

• County 1

TOTAL 25

(All Appointed from

Elected Bodies)

INDEPENDENT ADVISORY PANEL

• Appointed By National Water

Research Institute in 2004

• Leading Experts in Hydrogeology,

Chemistry, Toxicology,

Microbiology, Engineering, Public

Health, Public Communications

and Environmental Protection

• Review Operations, Monitoring

and Water Quality

• Panel Makes Recommendations

to OCWD and Regulatory

Agencies to Assure Quality and

Reliability

GWR SYSTEM FINANCIALS

CAPITAL COSTS:

$481 Million for Entire System

$92 Million Received in Federal and State Grants

O & M COSTS:

Total O&M Costs Approximately $29 Million Per Year

$9 Million Per Year Subsidy from Metropolitan Water District

WATER COSTS:

Currently About $0.46 Per Cubic Meter and Decreasing with Time

Without Grants, Subsidies and OCSD Capital Share, About $0.70

Per Cubic Meter

Water Costs Include All Capital and O&M Costs for the Entire

System

OVERCOMING PUBLIC PERCEPTION

• “Toilet to Tap” Catch

Phrase

• Educating Public on

Science Behind

System

• Allowing Media to

“Try Water for

Themselves”

PUBLIC OUTREACH PROCESS FOR GWRS

• Meetings with All Elected

Officials… Local, State and

National

• Presentations to Community

Groups, Organizations, Clubs,

etc… Over 1,500 to Date

• Tours of the Advanced Water

Purification Plant

• Tours of the Recharge Facilities

• Press Releases, Editorial Board

Briefings, Briefings for Each

New Reporter

• Cable/Local TV AppearancesMembers of

Parliament,

Victoria, AUS

POLITICAL COURAGE

Congresswoman Napolitano

Lt. Governor Garamendi

• Politicizing “Toilet to Tap” in

Past Elections

• Do The Right Thing

• No Rewards Without Risk

• Leadership Means Making

Difficult Non Self-Serving

Decisions

• Important to Secure Support in

Writing

COMMUNITY SUPPORT MINIMIZES

MEDIA POWER

• Balanced Media Coverage

in National, Local and

Trade Publications

• International Recognition

Through Global and

National Awards:

Stockholm Industry Water

Award

ASCE National Outstanding

Civil Engineering

Achievement

Public Relations Society of

America Silver Anvil

SOURCES OF OCWD RECHARGE WATERAnnual Total 398-487 GLY

Santa Ana River

Storm Flows -

62 GL

(16%)

Other * - 9 GL

(2%)

Surplus

Imported

Water – 80 GL

(20%)

Natural Incidental

Recharge – 74 GL

(19%)

Santa Ana River

Base Flows

173 GL

(43%)

GWR

System

89 GL

(22%)

(18%)

(15%)

FOR OUR FUTURE… “NEW BLUE WATER”

New Blue Water Projects Use Advance Water

Recycling Treatments to Produce Water that Meets

Drinking Water Standards... Water Suitable for

Human Consumption

In Southern California Alone, Over 4,900 GLD of

Treated Wastewater are Discharged into the Pacific

Ocean

Currently Proposed New Blue Water Projects Would

Purify 10% of Southern California’s Wasted

Wastewater Resulting in Over 410 GLD of Drinking

Water

Enough New Blue Water to Meet the Needs

of 1 Million Southern California Residents

EARLY INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE PROJECTS

Project Start Size (MLD) Treatment Use

Whittier Narrows, CA 1963 149 Tertiary Percolation

South Lake Tahoe,

CA

1966 25 Tertiary, GAC Injection

Windhoek, Africa 1969 17 Advanced

without

membranes

DPR

Water Factory 21,

OCWD

1976 17 RO,UV Injection

Upper Occoquan, VA 1981 91 Tertiary, GAC Reservoir

El Paso, TX 1986 25 Tertiary, GAC Injection

West Basin, LA 1996 20 MF, RO Injection

Scottsdale, AZ 2002 34 MF, RO Injection

RECENT ADVANCED WATER

PURIFICATION PROJECTS

Project Start Size (MLD) Treatment Use

GWR System, OCWD 2008 265 MF, RO, UV Perc/Inject

Singapore NEWater 2003 34 MF, RO, UV Reservoir

West Basin

Expansion, LA

2006 25 MF, RO, UV Injection

LA Harbor Project 2006 24 MF, RO Injection

Alamitos Gap, LA 2005 10 MF, RO, UV Injection

Western Corridor

Recycled Water

Project (Bundamba,

Luggage Point,

Gibson Island,

Queensland)

2007 Up to 230 MF, RO, UV Reservoir

PROPOSED “NEW BLUE” WATER PROJECTS

Project Start Size (MLD) Treatment Use

GWR System

Expansion, OCWD

2012 101 MF, RO, UV Perc/Inject

Water Replenishment,

CA

54 MF, RO, UV Percolation

Los Angeles, CA 51 MF, RO, UV Percolation

Santa Clara Valley, CA 20 MF, RO, UV Percolation

San Diego, CA 51 MF, RO, UV Reservoir

San Bernardino, CA 34 MF, RO, UV Percolation

Escondido, CA 34 MF, RO, UV Reservoir

Future Australian

Projects

Up to 196+ MF, RO, UV Reservoir

CONTACT INFORMATION

Orange County Water District

Director Phil Anthony

(714) 378-3200

www.ocwd.com

Groundwater

Replenishment System

www.gwrsystem.com

Santa Ana Watershed

Protection Agency

www.sawpa.org