The Governor Gavin Newsom has advanced an investment of 8.5 billion dollars to conserve, store and deliver more water to the communities of the state, in addition to announcing 288 million dollars for drought and flood projects in California that allow reaching the water goals.
And it is that, the Department of Water Resources? DWR, for its acronym in English?, through the Urban Community Drought Relief Grant program, has granted more than 217 million dollars to 44 projects that will help communities strengthen resilience to drought and better prepare for future dry conditions.
This, the governor said, will advance efforts outlined in the strategy to adapt California's water supply to forecasts of a warmer and drier future.
Investments focus on flood risk management and groundwater recharge, improving water supply reliability, water recycling, and water conservation and landscape transformation.
Along those lines, in San Joaquin County, the Stockton East Water District will receive $12.2 million to divert water from the New Hogan Reservoir for groundwater recharge and drinking water purposes.
Meanwhile, in Fresno County, the City of Fresno will receive $5.2 million to make improvements to the existing Leaky Acres Basin to maximize surface water capture during flooding.
For its part, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works will receive $10.5 million to reinforce the Santa Anita Dam and remove sediment, providing additional storage capacity for groundwater recharge downstream at the Santa Anita Spreading Grounds.
The project will increase the county's stormwater recharge capacity, adding more than 2,000 acre-feet of new stormwater resources to the groundwater basin annually.
In Ventura County, the Casitas Municipal Water District will receive $3.6 million to develop a deep extraction well to provide an additional approximately 8,000 acre-feet per year of new water supply. Additionally, in Santa Clara County, the City of Morgan Hill will receive $4 million to build a new 850,000 gallon above ground steel water supply reservoir.
In Santa Cruz County, the San Lorenzo Valley Water District will receive $4.5 million to replace nine leaking water storage tanks with six fire-rated steel tanks, to significantly increase the district's current storage capacity of 160 thousand to 720 thousand gallons.
In Fresno County, the Fresno Unified School District will receive $540,000 to support two projects that benefit a local elementary and middle school to irrigate with recycled water. In Alameda County, the Zone 7 Water Agency will receive $300,000 to build an automated self-service recycled water fill station to provide a permanent, year-round source of water for irrigation and other uses for many residents on schedules. of care expanded.
In Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will receive $4.5 million to upgrade the Dominguez Gap seawater intrusion barrier to use 100 percent recycled water.
Additionally, in San Bernardino County, the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District will receive $2.6 million to install water-efficient fixtures in single-family and multi-family homes in select deprived community areas to improve indoor water efficiency. .
The district will also replace grass with drought-tolerant landscaping in HOA areas and mobile home parks to reduce outdoor water use.
In Stanislaus County, the City of Modesto will receive $2.3 million to replace 17.79 acres of nonfunctional grass with drought-tolerant landscaping at 21 parks for an estimated water savings of more than 54 acre-feet per year.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will receive $30 million to implement a turf replacement program available to all of its member agencies serving a total of 19 million Californians, saving up to 4,500 acre-feet of water per year by converting approximately 30 million square feet of nonfunctional turf to water efficient landscaping.
In addition, in May, the Administration dedicated $71 million to address the scarcity of drinking water, the protection of species and populations particularly affected by drought.
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