Guide for Developing Onsite Water Systems to Support Regional Water Resilience

Pacific Institute | January 26th, 2023

Across the United States, urban communities face growing water challenges, from water scarcity to flooding, pollution, aging water infrastructure, and more. These challen

Across the United States, urban communities face growing water challenges, from water scarcity to flooding, pollution, aging water infrastructure, and more. These challenges present risks, but also an opportunity to rethink how we manage water, including adopting circular approaches in new buildings that reduce their water footprint and improve urban water resilience. Onsite water systems, for example, collect, treat, and reuse water from onsite sources, including wastewater, rainwater, and stormwater, for non-potable water uses like toilet flushing, outdoor irrigation, and cooling. Onsite water systems have the potential to provide multiple benefits for a site, water and wastewater systems, ecosystems, and communities. They can, for example, help companies mitigate water- related risks, like water shortages that threaten to disrupt business operations, and support corporate water stewardship goals. For communities, onsite water systems can enhance water supply reliability, improve water quality, reduce localized flooding, and increase urban green space. The realization and magnitude of benefits will vary with the type of system, scale of adoption, and other context-specific factors. This guide helps site developers consider how onsite water systems can be planned, designed, and operated to provide multiple benefits, and contribute to planning and designing onsite water systems that advance water resilience, support equity, support the environment, and protect public health at the site, water system, and community scales. For each of these outcomes, the guide provides sample questions to consider, stakeholders to engage, resources to examine, and analyses to perform.

Hazy Futures: Projecting the local impacts of global warming is a stubborn challenge. But cities need answers fast

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | June 5th, 2025

A wastewater treatment plant isn’t top on everyone’s sightseeing itinerary. But on a cloudless, breezy day in April, Agmed Weber, operations manager for the Walnut Cr

A wastewater treatment plant isn’t top on everyone’s sightseeing itinerary. But on a cloudless, breezy day in April, Agmed Weber, operations manager for the Walnut Creek plant—which handles more than half of the sewage here in Texas’s booming capital city—is an enthusiastic tour guide. He marvels at the foresight of those who built the jumbo plant a half-century ago, when Austin was a third of its current size. “They were really thinking about the future,” he says. Weber feels a similar pressure—to prepare for not only continued population growth, but also a hotter future. Austin is “in a tight space where we need to think ahead,” he says.

How much potable water is saved by wastewater recycling? Quasi-experimental evidence from California

Resources, Conservation & Recycling (Elsevier) | October 6th, 2021

Recently, California has made large investments in wastewater recycling to replace applications that use potable water. It may be expected that the use of recycled water

Recently, California has made large investments in wastewater recycling to replace applications that use potable water. It may be expected that the use of recycled water reduces potable water use, but such an equivalency is not assured. The addition of recycled water infrastructure in a large Californian water district creates a natural experiment where this work tests how recycled water usage affects primary potable water. This is done using econometric methods for causal inference in an observational setting that mirror a randomized control trial (RCT). From 2001 to 2014, a number of public parks were given recycled water infrastructure, while others in those regions remained exclusively on potable supply. A two-way fixed effects regression is used to produce a difference-in-differences estimate of the average treatment effect of recycled water on total and potable water usage. The results indicate that potable water usage is reduced significantly when a park is connected to the recycled water supply. The estimated rate of displacement in the study period is 81.7%, meaning each unit of recycled water use avoided 0.817 units of potable water usage, which implies the connection of parks to recycled water supply increases total water use. The analysis provides, to the best of our knowledge, the first empirical estimate of the water savings claimed by urban water recycling programs, and the first empirical estimate of displacement using quasi-experimental methods. The methodology can be utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of recycling programs around the world.

Identifying the Amount of Wastewater that is Available and Feasible to Recycle in California

Water Research Foundation (WRF) | July 24th, 2023

Implicit and Explicit Biases for Recycled Water and Tap Water

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | May 31st, 2022

Increasing use of recycled water to irrigate agricultural products and decreasing consumption of bottled water are important components of sustainable water management pr

Increasing use of recycled water to irrigate agricultural products and decreasing consumption of bottled water are important components of sustainable water management practices and consumer-driven efforts to improve water security and quality. However, consumers frequently discount agricultural products irrigated with recycled water relative to products irrigated with conventional water and place a premium on bottled water relative to tap water. This study measures consumer attitudes regarding recycled water and bottled water to understand more fully the reasons behind these preferences. We conduct two studies involving 2,616 adult consumers in the United States designed to measure consumer attitudes and preferences: the use of recycled water versus conventional water to irrigate food products and tap water versus bottled water for drinking. In each study, implicit attitudes are measured using an Implicit Association Test as well as explicit attitudes. We find that respondents have negative implicit attitudes regarding recycled water compared to conventional water and tap water compared to bottled water, and a negative explicit attitude toward recycled water. Tap water and food grown with recycled water were believed to be less healthy to consume and less tasty, although these are believed to be more sustainable options. Beliefs about water attributes (i.e., healthfulness, taste, and sustainability) are associated with attitudes, and both beliefs about attributes and attitudes are associated with preferences for products. Further, we find that respondents' stated preferences are consistent with their implicit and explicit attitudes.

Integrated Water Management at the Peri-Urban Interface: A Case Study of Monterey, California

Water, Multidisciplinary Publishing Institute (MDPI) | December 21st, 2020

Climate change, drought, and chronic overdraft represent growing threats to the sustainability of water supplies in dry environments. The Monterey/Salinas region in Cali

Climate change, drought, and chronic overdraft represent growing threats to the sustainability of water supplies in dry environments. The Monterey/Salinas region in California exemplifies a new era of integrated or “one water” management that is using all of the water it can get to achieve more sustainable supplies to benefit cities, agriculture, and the environment. This program is the first of its kind to reuse a variety of waters including wastewater, stormwater, food industry processing water, and agricultural drainage water. This study investigates the partnerships, projects, and innovations that shape Monterey’s integrated water network in order to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing California communities as they seek to sustainably manage peri-urban water supplies.Water reuse in the Monterey region produces substantial economic and environmental benefits, from tourism and irrigation of high-value crops to protection of groundwater and increases in environmental flows and water quality.Water resource managers in other communities can learn fromMonterey’s success leveraging local needs and regional partnerships to develop effective integrated water solutions. However, key challenges remain in resolving mismatched timing between water availability and demand, funding alternative water supplies, and planning effectively under uncertainty. Opportunities exist to increase Monterey’s recycled water supply by up to 50%, but this requires investment in seasonal storage and depends on whether desalination or additional recycling forms the next chapter in the region’s water supply story. Regulatory guidance is needed on seasonal subsurface storage of tertiary-treated recycled water as distinct from potable recharge. By increasing the supply of recycled water to Monterey’s indirect potable use system, the region’s potential need for seawater desalination may be delayed as much as 30 years, resulting in cost and energy savings, and giving the opportunity to resolve present planning concerns.

Integrated Water Resources Plan 2015 Update

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | January 1st, 2016

In California water, uncertainty comes with the territory. Being unprepared for tomorrow, however, is simply not an option. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern C

In California water, uncertainty comes with the territory. Being unprepared for tomorrow, however, is simply not an option. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California prepares for tomorrow with an evolving long-term water strategy known as its Integrated Water Resources Plan, or IRP. The inaugural IRP was adopted in 1996, with updates in 2004 and 2010. The 2015 IRP Update continues the tradition of assessing and adapting to changing conditions facing Southern California. The fundamental goal of the IRP is for Southern California to have as reliable a water system for tomorrow as the region has enjoyed for decades, regardless of the challenges that emerge along the way. Metropolitan plans to meet this goal through an adaptive management strategy that is the cornerstone of the 2015 IRP Update. Metropolitan was authorized by the California Legislature in 1928 to advance a regional approach to water supply in Southern California. Metropolitan’s initial mission was to construct the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct to its service area on the Southern California coastal plain. Metropolitan’s service area had an assessed property valuation of approximately $2 billion at the time. Now Metropolitan serves a six-county service area with a property valuation of approximately $2 trillion. Metropolitan imports supplies from both the Colorado River and Northern California via the State Water Project while investing in a variety of storage, local supply and conservation initiatives. Metropolitan has a long record of promoting alternatives to imported water supplies, dating back to the 1980s. With the IRP, that process became more formalized as a long-term strategy and official policy. Metropolitan has steadily diversified the future water portfolio for Southern California with each revision to the IRP. This update is no exception. Investments to maintain the reliability of imported supplies are complemented by an expansion of local supply development along with a reduction in demand through a variety of conservation and water-use efficiency initiatives. The necessary suite of actions evolves over time based on the water conditions of tomorrow. Updating the IRP creates a new baseline for managing into the future.

Investigation on the Feasibility of Developing Uniform Water Recycling Criteria for Direct Potable Reuse

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | December 29th, 2016

In 2010, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 918 (Chapter 700, Statutes of 2010), which added sections 13560-13569 (Division 7, Chapter 7.3) to the Water

In 2010, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 918 (Chapter 700, Statutes of 2010), which added sections 13560-13569 (Division 7, Chapter 7.3) to the Water Code regarding potable reuse of recycled water. SB 918 defined the term “direct potable reuse”1 and directed the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to investigate the feasibility of developing uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse (DPR), convene an expert panel to study the technical and scientific issues, and provide a final report to the Legislature by December 31, 2016. The main difference between DPR and indirect potable reuse (IPR) is DPR’s lack of a meaningful environmental buffer. In 2013, the Legislature enacted SB 322 (Chapter 637, Statutes of 2013), which amended Chapter 7.3 of the Water Code to require that an advisory group subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act be convened to advise the expert panel and the State Water Board in the development of the feasibility report. SB 322 additionally tasked the expert panel to assess whether additional areas of research are needed to be able to establish uniform regulatory criteria for DPR and to recommend an approach for accomplishing any additional needed research in a timely manner. SB322 required that a draft report summarizing the expert panel research recommendations be prepared by June 30, 2016, and a draft feasibility report be provided to the public for comment by September 1, 2016.

Investigation on the Feasibility of Developing Uniformwater Recycling Criteria ror Direct Potable Reuse

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | December 1st, 2016

The population of California is projected to increase from 38 million to 50 million by the year 2049. This population increase will have a dramatic impact on the water ne

The population of California is projected to increase from 38 million to 50 million by the year 2049. This population increase will have a dramatic impact on the water needs of the State. To address this increased water need, the State will take a variety of actions as outlined in the Governor’s California Water Action Plan, first released in 2014 and recently updated in 2016 (CA Natural Resources Agency, 2016). One component of that plan is to increase the use of recycled water. The State Water Board has set a mandate of increasing the use of recycled water by 200,000 acre-foot per year (AFY) by 2020 and an additional 300,000 AFY by 2030. Although the use of recycled water for non-potable uses such as agricultural and landscape irrigation is already well established and has been regulated for decades in California, increasing the use of recycled water for both non-potable uses as well as a source of potable water (“potable reuse”) is important for the State to be able to meet this mandate. For example, groundwater replenishment (groundwater recharge), which is an indirect form of potable reuse, has the capacity to reuse 200,000 acre-feet of recycled water a year via just eight projects throughout California. Accordingly, the State Water Board revised and adopted uniform water recycling criteria for groundwater replenishment in 2014 and is in the process of establishing uniform water recycling criteria for the augmentation of surface water reservoirs used as a source of drinking water supply, which is another form of indirect potable reuse.

LA Sustainable Water Project: Los Angeles River Watershed

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | September 1st, 2017

The LA Sustainable Water Project: Los Angeles River Watershed report explores the potential to improve water quality standards while integrating complementary One Water M

The LA Sustainable Water Project: Los Angeles River Watershed report explores the potential to improve water quality standards while integrating complementary One Water Management practices that can increase potential local water supplies for the City of Los Angeles (the City) in the highly urbanized Los Angeles River (LAR) watershed.To assess the integrated water landscape in this watershed, the report also looks at current practices and future opportunities at the Donald C Tillman, LA Glendale, and Burbank Water Reclamation Plants (WRPs) and in the underlying Upper LA River Area (ULARA) adjudicated groundwater basins. Implementing watershed-scale best management practice programs to meet stormwater permit requirements will significantly improve water quality. However, additional mechanisms such as increasing Low Impact Development implementation and comprehensive source tracking and source control mechanisms will be required to potentially eliminate water quality exceedances. The 3 WRPs in the watershed currently discharge more than 30 million gallons per day of treated wastewater into the River; an increased focus on increasing local water supply could lead to a reduction in these discharges. The combination of increased stormwater capture and increased use of recycled water in the LAR watershed could lead to lower flows in the LAR and impact habitat and recreational uses; further study is needed to characterize potential impacts and identify optimal flows for the future of the LAR. The City is leading efforts in ULARA to increase the recharge of recycled water into theground by 30,000 acre feet per year and increase the volumes of remediated groundwater extracted by around 120,000 acre feet per year. This research demonstrates the complex interrelationships between all aspects of urban water management, including stormwater management and local water supply.