Ventura water recycling project with swollen costs but big promise gets $60M federal grant

A Ventura water project with swollen costs has won a federal grant of more than $60 million that city officials say will ease the financial burden on water customers and help cover the expense.

The project received the top award of $60.4 million, almost half the $125 million in funding the U.S. Department of the Interior announced Monday for large-scale water recycling proposals. The five winning projects in California and Utah will help establish new sources of water and improve resistance to drought, federal officials said.

Ventura officials acknowledge that the growth in costs helped make the project eligible for the federal grant program. The funding is open only to ventures with a total cost of at least $500 million.

Estimated costs for the first phase of the recycling project and an associated upgrade of the Ventura wastewater plant have risen from roughly $375 million in 2022 to around $650 million, driven by inflation, design changes and a tight market for labor and materials, officials said. But the complex project appears to easily meet the purposes set out in federal law for funding — reclaim or reuse of wastewater or impaired ground or surface water.

Ventura City Manager Bill Ayub said the grant certainly came at a good time with a study underway on new rates for water bills. The grant should help cushion rate increases that were recently pegged around 8% annually, he said.

Ventura’s grant goes toward a water recycling project called VenturaWaterPure that’s intended to convert treated wastewater into safe drinking water, provide drought protection and reduce the environmental impact on the Santa Clara River estuary. The project grew out of a 2012 legal settlement with environmental groups over discharges of wastewater into the estuary, which provides habitat for vulnerable birds and fish.

“We will be taking recycled water that we produce at our current wastewater treatment plant, and treating it further and injecting it into the groundwater basins so we can reuse it as drinking water,” said Linda Sumansky, program director of VenturaWaterPure.

Rate-payers are expected to shoulder much of the cost. The city also has qualified for low-interest federal loans. But the grant money is distinctive, according to Sumansky.

“This is money we do not have to pay back in any way, so it’s money that does not have to be funded through rates,” she said.

The $60 million comes from a new federal program for large-scale water recycling projects that launched last year. The funding is billed as a way to encourage the development of drought-resistant water supplies by turning unusable water sources into clean, reliable ones.

U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, who helped write and pass a 2021 federal law authorizing the projects, said the legislation protects access to clean water for generations. Carbajal, D-Goleta, represents Ventura as part of his congressional district.

The Ventura project has been a major winner in the federal program for large-scale water recycling programs. The venture was awarded $30 million from the same program in May, putting the total over $90 million so far.

Sumansky plans to apply for another round of funding that comes up next year. “We are eligible for approximately $40 million more,” she said.

Kathleen Wilson covers courts, mental health and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura gets $60M in federal funds for water recycling project

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