Stephan Tucker, General Manager of the Water Replenishment District (WRD), details the district's core mission of safeguarding groundwater quantity and quality across southern LA County. Established in 1959 to combat depleted groundwater basins and seawater intrusion, WRD collaborates closely with the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) and local agencies to replenish the Central and West Coast Groundwater basins using a mix of stormwater and recycled water, thereby reducing dependence on imported water sources. In this exclusive interview, Tucker provides in-depth insights into key projects, notably the ongoing expansion of desalination facilities aimed at purifying groundwater, supported by federal grants and strategic partnerships. He also discusses the district's strategic vision for achieving long-term water supply sustainability, navigating construction challenges, and managing economic implications within the region's water infrastructure landscape. Throughout the conversation, Tucker emphasizes the critical importance of public awareness regarding groundwater's pivotal role in ensuring reliable water supply and maintaining cost-effectiveness across Southern California, painting an optimistic outlook for the region's water future.
David Abel: You were at VerdeXchange, our conference, and in our newsletters, vitally interested in the exceptional existential challenges of water supply and resiliency. We've had panels on this for years and interviews for over a decade – however, we haven't delved into groundwater and the treatment challenges it presents, as well as its role in California's and Southern California's water supply issues.
Considering all these supply challenges and the impacts of climate change, could you provide us with the background on your charge as the General Manager of the Water Replenishment District?
Stephen Tucker: First of all, thanks for having me, David. The charge for the Water Replenishment District (WRD) is to maintain both the quality and quantity of groundwater in southern LA County, which encompasses two basins: the Central Basin and the West Coast Basin. Just to give you a little history, back in the early 1900s, there was severe over pumping occurring in the southern LA County basin to such an extent that water levels dropped so low that we began to get seawater intrusion into the West Coast and Central Basins. To stop that seawater intrusion, they needed to ensure that the basins were being replenished at a sustainable rate to prevent it from happening and to avoid over pumping the basin.
In 1959, through a vote of the people, WRD was established, and shortly thereafter began buying water from the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) to replenish the basins. We then partnered with LA County Public Works to start using injection wells along the coastline in three different areas to inject water, holding seawater from intruding and contaminating the groundwater basins. Our primary responsibility is to ensure the basin levels are adequate for all 43 cities in our jurisdiction, as well as to help with cleanup efforts. We have since moved to more sustainable sources of replenishment water including stormwater and recycled water.
David Abel: Implicit in your answer is the necessity of integration and collaboration with the MWD, your two water districts, and the elaborate Southern California governance structure for water.
Tell us how this necessary collaboration has evolved and your specific role in ensuring that collaboration.
Stephen Tucker: Metropolitan Water District is the wholesaler for the Southern California area, and they sell water to their member agencies, of which we are not one. We must buy water from one of the member agencies from the Metropolitan Water District, in some cases Central Basin Municipal Water District or West Basin Municipal Water District. In essence, we're buying it from Metropolitan through those agencies.
For years, we purchased a substantial amount of water from the Central Basin Water District and received that water at the Montebello Forebay, letting it percolate into the groundwater system. That was our primary source of replenishment since the 1960s. Through stormwater diversion programs, flood control programs, and the use of recycled water we freed ourselves from using imported water to replenish the basins at the spreading grounds in 2019. Now we replenish the basins specifically with stormwater capture, tertiary-treated recycled water, and advanced treated recycled water.
David Abel: All right, there are many questions on the table that you just laid out for us, but let's turn to your expanding local water supply challenge in the Brackish Groundwater Reclamation Program, which our readers know very little about.
Please provide a description of this groundwater reclamation project.
Stephen Tucker: When the injection wells were installed along the West Coast Barrier, we started injecting water to stop seawater from intruding into the groundwater basin. This trapped a plume of salt water behind the barrier that has been there for decades. We built the Goldsworthy Desalter over twenty years ago to start cleaning up that area, and now we need to expand to other areas to clean it up faster and remove the salts from the groundwater trapped in that plume.
The water we clean up from that zone now supplies fresh water to the City of Torrance, to the tune of about 3.8 to 5 million gallons a day. Once we expand, we will start supplying water to Torrance at a rate of about 10 million gallons a day, which is an added local supply. That means less imported water that Torrance has to buy from the Metropolitan Water District, making that imported water available to other areas in Southern California.
But the benefits are two-fold. By removing the brackish water, we also create storage space for recycled water that will become available in the years to come.
David Abel: You're expanding the desalter facility with new groundwater extraction wells, desalinization, and state-of-the-art technology to purify and distribute salty water. What does it mean to have new groundwater extraction wells with desalinization and advanced technology?
Stephen Tucker: Let's start with desalinization. Desalinization is happening at the Goldsworthy Desalter now, and we're expanding that to double its size. Desalinization occurs through a series of processes. Extracted salty groundwater goes through pretreatment, nanofiltration, then reverse osmosis, and finally chlorination and disinfection. Then it's ready to be sent to the Torrance distribution system.
The groundwater extraction wells are going to be placed in the hotspots of the saline plume, where the salt concentration is higher. We're going to put groundwater extraction wells in those areas, extracting groundwater from about six to seven different wells. Then we'll send all that water to a collector line, send it to the expanded Goldsworthy Desalter to purify it, and then sell it to the City of Torrance for drinking.
David Abel: Please elaborate; what is this process, and how has it evolved. Is it different than it was a decade ago? Is the technology new and improved or less expensive?
Stephen Tucker: The technology is about the same; it's primarily reverse osmosis to remove salts and minerals from the water. The filter elements themselves have changed over the years and become more efficient. Brackish water in our region is about 1/5th as salty as ocean water allowing us to clean up and purify the water at a cost just under the rate at which you would buy from the Metropolitan Water District. It's an economic benefit for the City of Torrance because we typically sell that water to them at a rate lower than they can buy imported water from the Metropolitan Water District.
David Abel: MWD, very likely, is delighted with this…
Stephen Tucker: Actually, they are. They're looking to expand local sources to lessen the stress on imported water. To the extent they can help develop local sources, they do. They've even participated financially in helping us develop this local source.
David Abel: The Water Replenishment District and the work you have shared are integrated into our current regional water distribution system. What investments are needed to ensure this system can achieve the goal of LA and SoCal relying less on imported water?
Stephen Tucker: The distribution system is going to be extremely important. While the Water Replenishment District's focus is primarily on managing underground aquifers, improving our ability to move water across both the Metropolitan Water District and LA Department of Water and Power (LA DWP) service areas benefits everyone.
It's crucial to ensure that water is available where and when it's needed. Significant investments in distribution infrastructure will be necessary for projects like Operation Next and Pure Water Southern California. In fact, the majority of our expenses will go towards ensuring that purified water can be efficiently delivered to its intended destinations.
David Abel: One more question before moving on. Verdexchange has hosted a number of Korean and Japanese companies who offer reverse osmosis technology. What technology is WRD employing?
Stephen Tucker: Our technology is primarily developed in the States, and various companies produce these filter elements that we buy. The reverse osmosis process sounds complicated but is quite simple. It involves pumping water to a pressure that forces it through a very tightly meshed filter, removing all impurities. The result is extremely pure water, sometimes so pure we must add minerals back in to prevent pipe corrosion. We also use UV disinfection and chlorination to ensure the water is safe and meets drinking water standards before distribution.
David Abel: Let's move to the progressive design-build contract – WRD has recently met with McCarthy and Jacobs and the stakeholders of the Reclamation Program Usability study. Can you talk about that contract and the stakeholders involved?
Stephen Tucker: The scope of the progressive design-build contract awarded to McCarthy and Jacobs is to design the expansion of our current desalter to produce about 10 million gallons a day. This will be done in phases: design will continue until about March next year, then we get subcontractor bids to establish a guaranteed maximum price for the project. It also involves connecting existing infrastructure, including a well we purchased from the West Basin Municipal Water District, to add additional supply. Once construction begins, it will involve relocating utilities, building infrastructure, drilling several new wells, and installing pipelines to collect well water for reverse osmosis treatment.
Who are the stakeholders involved in this planning process?
Stephen Tucker: The stakeholders include the City of Torrance and its residents, where the facilities is being built, especially due to significant pipeline work. We will have to reach out to the residents regarding our work on the collector lines and wells. Then, the LA County Sanitation District is also involved because as we strip the salt from the water, we have one pure stream of water, but then it also produces a brine stream. The salty water with heavy chlorides goes to the waste stream and needs downstream treatment by the Sanitation Districts.
How has WRD funded this project?
Stephen Tucker: So far, it's been funded through various grants. We received about $5 million from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the feasibility study, a private grant of about $450,000, and $2 million from the Department of Water Resources. For construction, we were just awarded a $25 million grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Title 16 WaterSMART Program. The total project cost is over $200 million, so we're considering other funding options like federal funding through the WIFIA loan program and the State Revolving Fund. Lastly, we always have the option of selling bonds.
David Abel: I recently listened to a water panel at the VX conference this May, and the takeaway was that there are tens of billions of dollars in investments in water infrastructure needed, but the funding sources are uncertain.
Pay-as-you-go, it was asserted, isn't a sustainable model for these massive infrastructure projects. Is that conclusion consistent with your experience?
Stephen Tucker: It is. That's why we're diligently seeking funding from various sources—private, public, state, and federal. The more we can fund externally, the less burden on ratepayers. I completely agree with that. We couldn't build it with just pay-as-you-go, it would never get built.
David Abel: Another point from that VX Water panel was the generational shift in the water workforce, with many retiring and new projects increasing demand, is stressing budgets and workforce capability. Are you experiencing the aforementioned challenges?
Stephen Tucker: I think the industry workforce is changing. Contract operators face challenges in filling positions due to the many treatment facilities being built. Certified operators are in high demand, causing a lot of movement – it’s like musical chairs. We need more certified operators in Southern California, and projects like ours and those in Las Virgenes, Operation Next, and Pure Water Southern California will all require more certified operators.
However, I do know that several workforce development efforts are underway. WRD is partnering with local stakeholders and junior colleges to increase awareness of water careers and add certification programs to train operators for now and in the future.
David Abel: Allow me to pivot to the responsibilities of the Water Replenishment District, of Hyperion, and of County Sanitation in ensuring SoCal Water's future. Do you believe a water future for Southern California can be achieved by 2035 or 2045, or are these deadlines unrealistic?
Stephen Tucker: That's a good question. I think a lot can be accomplished with proper funding. With projects like Operation Next in Los Angeles estimated at over $16 billion, and Metropolitan Water District's projects ranging from $8 to $10 billion, our $200 million project is comparatively modest. With the right funding sources, yes– these projects can be completed. It will require extensive coordination among agencies and municipalities to build the necessary infrastructure to support these projects. Personally, I'm optimistic about Southern California's water future.
David Abel: You would likely agree that getting the City of LA Sanitation and the LA Department of Water and Power to collaborate can be a daunting challenge that could take years. Is there any evidence that such collaboration could accelerate?
Stephen Tucker: Setting aside the challenges with LA's agencies, my colleagues at Metropolitan Water District, West Basin, Central Basin, LADWP, and LA County Sanitation Districts are all eager to collaborate, so in my eyes, collaboration isn't the issue. Behind the scenes, progress is being made among sister agencies within Los Angeles. I believe the real challenges lie in securing project financing and ensuring the long-term economic viability of operating these projects.
David Abel: Might the change of administration at the federal level affect the funding of water projects? Is this something WRD is concerned about?
Stephen Tucker: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill has been immensely helpful, and funding is starting to trickle out. If funding sources like these change, it could complicate project completion. None of the proposed projects have all the necessary funds internally or in–house; federal, state, and private funding will be crucial for the completion of any of these projects, and the administration's stance on infrastructure funding will dictate its impact on Southern California's initiatives.
David Abel: Similarly, the leadership at Metropolitan Water District is currently uncertain. How does uncertainty impact your planning?
Stephen Tucker: The Pure Water Southern California project proposed by MWD is crucially important for us in supplying water to seawater intrusion barriers. While leadership transitions at MWD may influence board politics, I believe the project's viability will ultimately determine its progression. Convincing the board of its viability will be pivotal and then we would need to work on gaining support across the Metropolitan service area.
David Abel: Do all water districts support the Pure Water project?
Stephen Tucker: No, because within any district, there are segments focused on local interests and skeptical of subsidizing benefits in other areas. Several agencies don’t feel eager to support something that is not directly benefitting their area.
However, increasing local drinking water supplies ultimately benefits the entire Metropolitan system, particularly during droughts. Having an additional 150 million gallons per day will prove invaluable during severe drought periods, and we’re going to be glad that we have that resource in storage.
David Abel: Lastly, how do you explain to the general public, rather than to other water districts, the importance of the work that WRD does?
Unlike renewable energy, where people expect the lights to come on, how do you convey the relevance and importance of your work to everyday citizens?
Stephen Tucker: WRD’s work is crucial because most people aren't aware that the groundwater we manage supplies about half of the drinking water in our service area. WRD has a robust outreach and education program that begins in the community where we work to make the topics of groundwater and conservation available and accessible to the residents in our service area at everything from career days in our schools to resource fairs in collaboration with the cities we serve. The average person may not even know our district exists, so we work hard to let them know that we are working hard to secure our water future. Every time they turn on their tap, every other molecule of water that flows out is thanks to our efforts. Groundwater is one of the least expensive sources of water available, aside from stormwater capture. It's much cheaper than importing water from Northern California or the Colorado River. Our work plays a significant role in keeping water rates in Southern California, especially in the WRD service area, as low as they are.
In 2019, WRD opened our recycled water treatment plant in Pico Rivera which includes a state-of-the-art bilingual learning center that is open to the public for tours and field trips. We have also created a virtual tour that can be accessed from any computer or mobile device where virtual visitors can see how recycled water is purified and used for groundwater replenishment. Information on our outreach programs and virtual tours can be found on our website at www.wrd.org.
David Abel: A great answer. Let's close with that.
Thank you very much.