Ventura Water Pure Project presentation made to the Ventura Marina Community.
by P. Lawrie
On August 1, 2023, a presentation was made to the Ventura Marina Community regarding the Ventura Water Pure Project. The goals were to inform the community and businesses and surrounding community about the anticipated impact of the project by building a collaborative relation through communication with concerned residents and businesses.
The team from MIMIAGA(Mimiaga Engineering Group) were introduced and each presented issues regarding the water supply and challenges with how the local supply of water is going to change and increase the amount of drinking water to the city by 20%.
The Ventura Water Pure Project is a multi-benefit water reuse program that will recover, treat, and reuse water that is currently discharged into the Santa Clara River Estuary, creating a new local drought resilient, water source that isn’t dependent on rainfall, and adding further purification to the system that is already in place. It is a 4th step in the already in place, three phase process.
Ventura is one of the largest cities in Southern California to rely solely on local water supplies. Rainfall feeds the Ventura River, Lake Casitas, and ground water basins to meet all the Ventura community needs. However, new challenges like prolonged drought and increased legal and environmental regulations have challenged Ventura’s water sources.
A decade of evaluations, studies, and piloting has allowed local leaders to consider many forward-thinking solutions to Ventura’s water problem. Ultimately this work led to the Ventura Water Pure Program.
The Water Pure Program will produce a drought-resistant water supply, and will reduce the amount of water that the city releases into the Santa Clara River estuary.
There are three steps on how Ventura Water Pure Program Project will work.
1. Currently, wastewater from the City of Ventura is sent to the Ventura water reclamation facility, where it is treated and cleaned before it is being discharged into the Santa Clara River estuary. In the future, a portion of this water will be sent to the new Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF) for reuse.
2. Using a scientifically proven process, the Ventura water program will treat water to drinking-water standards, creating a reliable, locally controlled high quality water source.
3. The purified water will then be injected into a local groundwater basin and later distributed to the Ventura water customers.
For over 40 years, this solution known as” palatable reuse” has been used throughout California.
The Ventura Water Pure Project includes several project components, including an Advanced Water Purification Facility, which will treat water from the Ventura water reclamation facility to drinking water standards.
An Ocean Outfall pipeline has been designed to discharge concentrate to support excess flows of tertiary treated water during rainy seasons. The Ventura Water Pure Program will allow Ventura to meet legal requirements, improve water quality, and secure a new local source of drinking water that is drought resistant.
Many communities in California, and across the nation are implementing advanced water purification systems similar to the Ventura water pure program.
Residents in the Ventura Marina and Portside Community. upon hearing the presentation had some concerns about construction regarding liquefaction, blowing dust, strong prevailing winds, noise levels and vibrations from the drilling and pipe driver process. Increased water rates are also an issue of concern.
Questions were also raised regarding Harbor crossing and traffic control. The traffic pattern will change but access to businesses and residents will be maintained. There may be some one-way traffic concerns but there will be flaggers directing traffic and access to businesses and residences.
What’s visible so far on Harbor Blvd is the parking lot on Schooner and Harbor which will be a temporary boat storage with fencing, access, and security cameras. Boats will be moved from the Derecktor Shipyard to Schooner and Harbor Blvd temporarily from the dry docks near Harbor Town.
This project is slated to begin soon after Labor Day 2023. The off shore pipeline construction will begin in Winter/Spring of 2023 and is projected to be completed by summer 2024.
Updates on the project can be found at www.cityofventura.ca.gov/OceanOutfall or by calling 805-500-8103
