The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan, including one to Oxnard, Calif., announced last week, are intended to address sustained water challenges.
The $48 million WIFIA loan to Oxnard will support the city's Aquifer Storage Recovery Pilot Project by funding the city's project to expand its recycled water supply and secure climate-resilient, reliable water service the more than 200,000 residents, according to a May 13 EPA news release.
"Communities across the west - including in Oxnard, Calif. - are facing sustained water challenges as a result of climate change and the worst megadrought in a millennium," EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox said in the news release. "This challenge calls for using multiple tools, including recycling our water to get more use from every drop.
"EPA is proud to provide this $48 million loan to help Oxnard expand water reuse," Fox added, according to the release. "We are working to bring the benefits of water infrastructure investment to communities from coast to coast with $50 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law."
Oxnard's Aquifer Storage Recovery Project expects to increase its water supply reliability by expanding production of recycled water production. The Oxnard Basin, a key community water source, needs "critical overdraft," in part because it is "vulnerable to seawater intrusion," the news release said. The city also expects substantial water shortages through 2040 because of increased drought and groundwater restrictions.
"In the face of climate change and California's ongoing drought, investing in local water projects is vital for our future," Oxnard Mayor John C. Zaragoza said in the news release. "This funding allows us to complete major infrastructure projects that will ensure a reliable, local water resource while also providing significant cost savings for our residents."
"As the impacts of climate change worsen, we must continue to work together at all levels of government on innovative projects to help recycle and replenish groundwater supplies for our community," U.S. House Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., said in the release. "I also commend the good work of Mayor Zaragoza and city of Oxnard staff who put together this excellent project proposal that will help ensure over 200,000 residents in Oxnard have continued access to safe, clean and affordable water."
