3,500
AFY Treated Groundwater
$62 Million
Grant Funding
By spring of 2025, approximately seven miles of pipeline was laid to connect groundwater wells to the Perris North Groundwater Treatment Facility. Construction of the centralized treatment facility, which has a treatment train that includes greensand filtration, GAC, and IX is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, along with the drilling and equipping of six groundwater extraction wells. The monitoring wells will continue to be sampled on a quarterly basis by EMWD staff for the next 25 years. Once complete, the project will result in the extraction and treatment of 3,500 AFY of groundwater for potable reuse.
Graphic rendering of the Perris North Groundwater Treatment Facility.
Our fiscal solutions team collaborated with consulting and EMWD to support the preparation of a successful State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Proposition 1 Groundwater Grant Application. This secured $36 million for the Perris North Groundwater Program. Our client was subsequently awarded an additional $26 million in grant funding. Together, these two grants cover a significant portion of the project cost, offsetting the burden that would otherwise be passed on to rate payers.
Looking towards the future water supply
As with many water suppliers in arid regions of the country, EMWD wants to manage their current water supply and plan for future water demands. To help the district determine its best approach, Woodard & Curran conducted a high-level evaluation of banking imported water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in the Lakeview Subbasin via surface infiltration. Lakeview Subbasin underlies the valley between the Bernasconi Hills and the Lakeview Mountains, east of the Perris Reservoir, which is the southern terminus of the California State Water Project.
Our team developed two conceptual recharge projects and estimated planning-level costs, including capital and annualized operations and maintenance costs. We modeled groundwater at the two sites to estimate the feasible range of recharge and extraction. Based on modeled recharge amounts, we calculated the unit cost of water and presented it on a cost curve. The study found that groundwater banking was feasible and provided support for further work.
Should EMWD pursue a groundwater banking project in the Lakeview Subbasin, the district would develop a new supply of potable water replenished by imported water and alleviate the migration of lower quality groundwater into the Lakeview Subbasin from the adjacent Perris South Subbasin.
