The city of Los Angeles Monday marked the completion of its North Hollywood Central and West Groundwater Treatment Facilities that will be able to treat up to 43 million gallons of contaminated groundwater daily to supply homes with drinking water.
Mayor Karen Bass was joined by City Councilman Adrin Nazarian, who represents North Hollywood, Department of Water and Power officials, and state and federal regulators Monday morning for a ribbon cutting ceremony. The completion of the two structures marked a milestone for an ongoing project to remediate the San Fernando Basin and bolster the city’s climate resilience.
“Today is about bold climate action. It’s about delivering results. It’s about meeting the moment to protect our city, our people and our planet,” Bass said in a statement.
The two structures are part of the DWP’s San Fernando Valley Groundwater Remediation Project, one of the city’s largest investments in local water infrastructure. Along with the two North Hollywood facilities, the city is scheduled to complete another structure in Tujunga by next year.
Collectively, the facilities are expected to extract and treat roughly 92 millions of water per day, enough to supply up to 400,000 L.A. homes a year.
Nazarian, who chairs the City Council’s Energy and Environment Committee, said the project was important as the city imports more than 70% of its water.
“We’re going to turn that around and produce 70% of our water locally. The three groundwater treatment facilities we’re opening in my district will replenish our groundwater and help us meet that goal, because nothing is more important than knowing that clean, affordable water will be there when you turn on the tap,” Nazarian said in a statement.
The San Fernando Groundwater Basin is one of Los Angeles’ most important local water resources, supplying drinking water to communities across the city. Decades of industrial pollution contaminated portions of the basin, and large portions of the basin were later designated a federal high priority cleanup site.
The new facilities will pump, treat, and remove contaminants from groundwater to meet drinking water standards. The treated water will then enter DWP’s water distribution system. By remediating the basin and restoring access to this local water resource, the projects help diversify the city’s water portfolio and reduce reliance on increasingly uncertain imported water supplies as California faces more frequent droughts and the growing impacts of climate change, according to the mayor’s office.
DWP received approximately $308 million in Proposition 1 grant funding administered by the State Water Resources Control Board. The state investment includes $122 million for the North Hollywood Central facility, $46 million for the North Hollywood West facility, and $139 million for the Tujunga facility.