Hi-Desert Water District water customers use about 3,000 acre-feet of water every year. The water district must buy most of that water from the State Water Project. Once the wastewater treatment project (the sewer) is built in Yucca Valley, district officials estimate that the amount of water the water district will have to buy will be reduced by nearly one-third. Managing editor Tami Roleff explains why…
The proposed wastewater treatment facility planned for Yucca Valley will include a water treatment plant, which will collect and treat wastewater to a high-enough standard that it can be safely returned to the aquifer. The treated water will be discharged into treatment ponds, where it will then percolate down into the aquifer and replenish the ground water supply. District officials estimate nearly 1,100 acre feet of water—or enough to supply water to half the homes in Yucca Valley—will be returned to the aquifer. Once Phase 2 and Phase 3 are added to the sewer, district officials say the amount of water recharged will be even more. Which means the water district will not have to depend on buying all its water from the State Water Project.
