News

Village Park in Encinitas to receive up to 114 million gallons annually for landscape

To celebrate the completion of its Village Park Recycled Water Project, Olivenhain Municipal Water District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, November 28, at Flora Vista Elementary School in Encinitas.

The completion of this project will enable OMWD to deliver recycled water to schools, homeowner association-maintained areas, and greenbelts throughout the Village Park community. Flora Vista is the first customer in Encinitas’ Village Park neighborhood to receive this local, drought-resilient water source.

OMWD can provide 2 million gallons of recycled water daily for landscape irrigation at schools, parks, HOA common areas, street landscaping, and golf courses. As more commercial landscape customers connect to the seven miles of newly installed pipeline, OMWD will be able to deliver an additional 114 million gallons a year of this less expensive alternative to imported drinking water.

“Almost 90% of San Diego County’s water supplies are imported and subject to drought and other potential supply interruptions,” stated Edmund Sprague, OMWD Board President. “With continued drought conditions and state mandates, decreasing demand on imported water through investing in drought-resilient supplies is of paramount importance.”

Representatives from the California Natural Resources Agency and Department of Water Resources took part in the celebration, as did local agency partners San Diego County Water Authority, San Elijo Joint Powers Authority, City of Encinitas, and Encinitas Union School District.

The Village Park project is an element of the larger North San Diego County Regional Recycled Water Project—a collaborative effort among ten North County agencies that coordinates across jurisdictional boundaries. Established in 2009, the coalition has received nearly $5 million in grant funds through the San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management Program.

OMWD serves approximately 12 percent of its overall demand from recycled water, and continues to identify additional ways to make recycled water available to eligible customers. In addition to recycled water efforts, OMWD is working on a feasibility study for a brackish groundwater desalination plant to further diversify supplies and provide ratepayers with a local source of drinking water. These supply projects, combined with conservation efforts, will help to ensure that OMWD customers will have the water they need during future droughts.

Partners Commemorate the Completion of the Village Park Recycled Water Project