WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Lois Capps today celebrated the passage of legislation to authorize a comprehensive regional water resources development project in Oxnard.  The City of Oxnard Water Recycling and Desalination Act of 2007 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with the City of Oxnard, to participate in the design, planning, and construction of the Groundwater Recovery Enhancement and Treatment (GREAT) Project in Ventura County.  The GREAT bill was successfully passed by the House in the 109^th Congress but the Senate did not act on the measure. 

The GREAT Program combines wastewater recycling and reuse, groundwater injection, storage and recovery, and groundwater desalination to provide regional water supply solutions to the Oxnard Plain.

“I am very pleased that my legislation to approve the GREAT program has once again won House approval,” said Capps.  “Today’s successful House vote is another significant step towards making this important legislation law and I hope that the Senate will soon consider this legislation.  The GREAT Program will help the Oxnard community use its precious water resources more efficiently, reducing its dependence on imported water and helping to prevent substantial increases in cost of water for Oxnard citizens.   This project presents an innovative solution to a serious local problem and I am committed to helping the community address their need for a clean, reliable, local water supply.  I will continue to work closely with the City of Oxnard to ensure that this program will improve our ability to supply adequate clean water to the community.”

Elements of the GREAT Program include a new regional groundwater desalination facility to serve potable water customers in the City of Oxnard and adjacent communities, a recycled water system to serve agricultural water users and added protection against seawater intrusion and saltwater contamination.  The program also includes a wetlands restoration and enhancement element by efficiently reusing the brine discharges from both the recycled and groundwater desalination treatment facilities.

Implementation of the GREAT Program is expected to provide many significant regional benefits.  The City of Oxnard’s current water infrastructure delivers approximately 30 million gallons of treated wastewater per day to an ocean outfall.  The GREAT Program will allow that treated wastewater to be reused by the agricultural and landscape water users in the area.  The new regional desalination component – converted from an existing Bureau of Reclamation pilot-project water desalination facility – will serve ratepayers in Oxnard and its adjacent communities, guaranteeing sufficient water supplies for the area.

The total project cost for phase one of the GREAT  Program facilities is estimated to be $55 million.  Funding would be used for design, planning and construction of desalination facility and wastewater-recycling project.  The City of Oxnard has spent nearly $3 million on advanced planning, conceptual design and environmental review for the project.

A copy of the Congresswoman’s Floor Statement follows:

The Honorable Lois Capps

Statement on H.R. 1737, the City of Oxnard Water Recycling and Desalination Act of 2007

Madame Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1737, the City of Oxnard Water Recycling and Desalination Act.

First, I want to thank the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Mr. Rahall, and chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Water and Power, Ms. Napolitano, as well as the ranking members of the full Committee and Subcommittee for expediting the consideration of this legislation and for bringing H.R. 1737 before us today.  This bill was passed by the House of Representatives last year but was never acted on by the Senate.

H.R. 1737 would authorize a proposed regional water resources project – the Groundwater Recovery Enhancement and Treatment or GREAT Program – located in my congressional district. 

As you know, many communities today are faced with the difficult task of providing reliable and safe water to their customers.  The City of Oxnard is no exception.

Oxnard is one of California’s fastest growing cities and is facing an ever growing crisis: it’s running out of affordable water.  The water needs for the city’s agricultural and industrial base, together with its growing population, has exceeded its local water resources.  As a result, over 50 percent of its water has to be imported from outside sources. 

However, through a series of local, state and federal restrictions the amount of imported water available to the city is shrinking, while the cost of that water is rising.  Recognizing these challenges, Oxnard developed the GREAT Program to address its long term water needs.

The GREAT Program elements include:

• a new regional groundwater desalination facility to serve potable water customers in Oxnard and adjacent communities;

• a recycled water system to serve agricultural water users, and added protection against seawater intrusion and saltwater contamination;

• and a wetlands restoration and enhancement component that efficiently reuses the brine discharges from both the groundwater desalination and recycled water treatment facilities.

Implementation of the GREAT Program will provide many significant regional benefits. 

First, the new desalination project will serve ratepayers in Oxnard and adjacent communities, guaranteeing sufficient water supplies for the area. 

Second, Oxnard’s current water infrastructure delivers approximately 30 million gallons of treated wastewater per day to an ocean outfall.  The GREAT Program will utilize the resource currently wasted to the ocean and treat it so that it can be reused by the agricultural water users in the area. 

During the non-growing season, it will inject the resource into to the ground to serve as a barrier against seawater intrusion and saltwater contamination.  To alleviate severely depressed groundwater levels, this component also includes pumping groundwater into the aquifer to enhance groundwater recharge. 

Finally, the brine produced as a by-product of the desalination and recycling plants will provide a year-round supply of nutrient rich water to the existing wetlands at Ormond Beach.

Madame Speaker, I commend the Natural Resources Committee for trying to find innovative and effective ways of extending water supplies in the West.  In my view, the City of Oxnard Water Recycling and Desalination Act offers such a creative solution.  It will reduce the consumption of groundwater for agricultural and industrial purposes, cut imported water delivery requirements, and improve local reliability of high quality water deliveries.

Again, I would like to thank the Natural Resources Committee for supporting this bill, and urge its immediate passage.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.