FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. - Launching Orange County to the forefront of progressive water purification worldwide, Orange County Water District (OCWD) and Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) yesterday held their official groundbreaking ceremony for the new $487 million Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System water purification project. The event, held on the OCWD water campus in Fountain Valley, attracted more than150 elected officials, community leaders and industry leaders from around the state and country.

In attendance from Orange County's Congressional Delegation were Ken Calvert, 44th District; Dana Rohrabacher, 46th District; Ed Royce, 40th District and Loretta Sanchez, 47th District. Also in attendance Lester Snow, Director, Department of Water Resources, Assemblyman John Campbell; and Lisa Kalustian, Chief Deputy Director, Governor Schwarzenegger.

Members of the OCWD and OCSD boards of directors, joined by the Congressional Delegation, unveiled the bronze cornerstone and an artist rendering for the GWR System's water purification facilities.

The GWR System, a state-of-the-art water purification project, takes highly treated sewer water that is currently released into the ocean and purifies it using the same technologies that purify baby food, fruit juices, medicines and bottled water. The GWR System will create a new supply of extremely high-quality water for use in an expanded seawater intrusion barrier and to augment groundwater supplies for north and central Orange County residents. When the project's Advanced Water Purification Facility is complete in 2007, it will produce 70 million gallons of purified water per day, enough water to provide for 144,000 families annually.

"Today marks the official start of the construction of the Groundwater Replenishment System's advance water purification facility, which will serve as a model for water management professionals throughout the world," said Denis Bilodeau, president of OCWD. "The GWR System is the first water purification system of its kind in the world and will be emulated by water suppliers in regions across the globe facing similar water supply, population and climate challenges as California."

Phase One of the GWR System is currently online and sending five million gallons a day of purified water to the county's seawater intrusion barrier that keeps the ocean out of the underground aquifer. The ceremony marks the beginning of construction of the larger, 70 million gallons per day facility.

"Knowing that our unique public agency partnership with OCWD will result in a project that addresses several water resource problems in an environmentally beneficial way makes this an important day in the county's water history," said Steve Anderson, OCSD chair. "It's environmentally beneficial because it improves water quality and drought mitigation, saves energy over importing water from Northern California, delays the need for an additional ocean outfall, reduces the amount of wastewater to the ocean, and because it reduces the need for imported water from Northern California, it lessens the strain on the ecosystem of the San Francisco-San Joaquin Bay
Delta."

The GWR System replaces Water Factory 21, which was built by OCWD in partnership with OCSD in the early 1970's and has been an international model for innovative water purification projects for decades.

"In a way, the Groundwater Replenishment System is the continuation of a legacy started nearly 30 years ago with Water Factory 21," said Phil Anthony, second vice president of the Orange County Water District. "Both OCWD and OCSD are confident we have successfully partnered on another major water project that will set the world standard for water purification for another 25 years."

The project will represent a major contribution to satisfying the demands on OCWD's water resources, expected to grow from the current 505,000 acre-feet per year to 605,000 acre-feet per year by 2020. More than half of the area's water supply for 23 northern and central Orange County communities is drawn from groundwater aquifers, with the remainder imported from the Colorado River and California's State Water Project.

As a new water supply for Orange County, the GWR System is part of a long-range plan developed by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the water import agency for the region, to maintain and improve Southern California's reliable water supplies.


Please see below for what state and federal leaders had to say about the GWR System at the event.


Congressman Ken Calvert, 44th District:

"Nothing is more certain than the water you already have. It is water that can be reclaimed and reused, and you absolutely know it's going to be here for you."


Congressman Ed Royce, 40th District:

"We're here because water is one of the most precious resources in Orange County and we don't have enough of it. We have to make sure we find a way to drought-proof this county. This is what this project is about."

"The Groundwater Replenishment System is a locally produced and a locally managed water reuse project that will help sustain Orange County's water supply. "

"There are so many benefits to this particular project and that's why I think we wanted to be here today to really commend the agencies for their extraordinary vision and their pioneering, and to say that the GWR System that involves this cutting edge technology is really putting Orange County on the radar screen in the nation and indeed, worldwide."


Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, 46th District:

"Now, what we're doing today is making sure that when my children and all of the children around grow up, this is going to be as wonderful a place to live and the type of place we're proud of. That's what it's about, passing on something good to the next generation."

"We know that we're going to need water and we're going to have to spend money for it, that's why we have to be serious about it."


Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, 47th District:

"It's pretty exciting to see this happening. I was the author of bill 1156, and with the help of this delegation...we were able to pass it in the House on July 17 and raise the federal authorization from $20 million to $80 million. That's a big deal, and we're working on our senators so we can get this project done."

"We're very blessed to have a groundwater table to pump this into. It will be less expensive currently and in the future, and of course, the allocation of water from other places like the Colorado River or from up north. It's just not going to be coming to Orange County in the long run, so this really is self-sustaining."


Lester Snow, Director, California State Department of Water Resources:

"The Department of Water Resources, in an attempt to secure California's long-term water supply, is attempting to promote an integrated regional water resource management strategy. We cannot pretend that the state of California can fix all the local water supply issues, but rather try to support activities such as this. As we go around the state to areas that have wastewater potential and groundwater potential, we point to this region and hope they will come to tour the project and understand what is being done here."

"I pledge on behalf of the Schwarzenegger administration to continue supporting this activity. We have in the past found $30 million worth of Proposition 13 grants that have supported this. We hope to continue some financial support and technical support, and be a part of this historic program here. We congratulate all of you for participating in it."

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Orange County Water District (OCWD) manages and protects the large groundwater basin underlying north and central Orange County. OCWD is a special district, separate from the County of Orange or any city government. It was created by the California Legislature in 1933 to oversee Orange County's groundwater basin. The groundwater basin supplies more than half of the water needs for 2.3 million residents in the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster and Yorba Linda.

Orange County Sanitation District is responsible for safely collecting, treating, and disposing wastewater. It is a special district, separate from the County of Orange or any city government, established under the State Health and Safety Code, to provide sewerage service to a specific geographic area. The Orange County Sanitation District is governed by a 25-member board of directors comprised of representatives of each local sewering agency or cities within our 470-square-mile service area. For more information, visit www.ocsd.com.