UPDATED: To correct name and title. (Wed,. April 5, 10:30 a.m. MT)

By Naoki Nitta for Grist.
Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Grist-Public News Service Collaboration

Standing under a shady tree drooping with pomegranates late last year, Brad Simmons, a retired metal fabricator who has lived in Healdsburg, California, for 57 years, showed off his backyard orchard. Along with the apple, cherry, and peach trees, he's packed one pear tree, two lemon trees, and a century-old olive tree into his bungalow's compact garden.

Of course, the small grove requires plenty of water - an increasingly scarce resource in a state that continues grappling with a historic drought despite recent torrential rains. Yet Simmons, like many of his fellow 12,000 residents, has managed to keep much of this wine country community north of San Francisco looking verdant while slashing the city's water use in half since 2020.

Healdsburg benefits from an invaluable resource that keeps gardens, trees, and vineyards irrigated: free, non-potable water produced by its wastewater-reclamation facility. The plant recycles 350 million gallons of effluent drained and flushed in the city every year, according to city officials, or slightly more than half its annual water consumption. The reused H₂O is used in irrigation, construction, and other applications that require lower levels of treatment than drinking water. This eases pressure on regional reservoirs and wells while enlisting a wide pool of users in promoting an ethos of conservation, all the while helping manage the amount of treated wastewater discharged into the Russian River.

"I worry about water all the time," Simmons said as he dragged a hose across his parched grass to an enormous box filled with 275 gallons of reclaimed water. The washer-and-dryer-size containers have become a standard lawn fixture around town. "So this is a real lifeline."

California's wastewater projects

Currently, California treats and reuses approximately 728,000 acre-feet, or approximately 18 percent, of the yearly wastewater it produces. But the state has higher ambitions for increasing water security: New goals call for a near threefold increase by 2030 to 2 million acre-feet annually.

Backed by initiatives such as the California Water Board's Clean Water State Revolving Fund and federal support, including a $750 million grant program, several large projects are in the pipeline. Orange County, for one, is upping capacity on its potable water-purification plant - already the world's largest - to recycle 130 million gallons of effluent daily. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is eyeing a new $3.4 billion recycling facility that would secure a renewable source of drinking water for 19 million customers in the Los Angeles area.

For smaller communities or those with limited resources, however, a more modest approach can be just as effective, says Anne Thebo, senior researcher at the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit water conservation think tank in Oakland, California.

"The local context can really give communities flexibility in developing their water-reuse plans," she notes. Agricultural communities hold an advantage here, she says, because many forms of irrigation don't require recycled water that's clean enough to drink. But all communities have some flexibility in their ability to use treated effluent, because water used to irrigate timber or lawns can be lower in quality than that used for pasture grass like alfalfa or crops that can be eaten raw, such as strawberries and lettuce. Developing a water-recycling plan that suits the needs of the community can diversify a region's water portfolio and offset overall demand.

Healdburg's approach

Reuse wasn't Healdsburg's main priority when it upgraded the wastewater plant in 2008. The city needed to comply with environmental discharge regulations into the Russian River, which included meeting a higher threshold of nutrient and pathogen removal. The $29.3 million enhancement added pathogen-filtering membranes and UV light to a process that already included filtration and a microbial scrubbing. The additional measure purifies wastewater to near-drinking quality, making it clean enough to release into the 1,485-square-mile watershed.

Still, even at that quality, regional water authorities limit discharge to October through mid-May, when rain typically swells river volumes and reduces the risk of negative impacts. For the remaining months, "we have to figure out what to do with it," says Healdsburg's water and wastewater engineer Patrick Fuss. This became the core challenge, and eventual success, of Healdsburg's program - ensuring that there's enough demand for that supply.

Although state regulations allow the agricultural use of triple-treated water, they also require permits that outline specific uses, largely to ensure the safety of groundwater and the public. Healdsburg's original permit included wine-grape irrigation along with residential, landscaping, and industrial use. But finding sufficient takers for the treated water was, for years, a challenge, Fuss says. While the recycled water is free, it's non-potable and requires separate plumbing and tubing, making for a potentially expensive outlay. Others had unfounded concerns about nitrate, mineral, and chemical residues in the supply tainting their prized grapes.

As a result, treated wastewater continued to cascade into the river until three years ago, when municipal actions driven by the escalating drought pushed the city into full compliance with the discharge rules. The multifaceted approach tightens the amount of wastewater coming into the system through water-conservation measures, while increasing demand for recycled water.

Fuss laid some of the groundwork for that by enlisting vintners through a door-to-door campaign, and engaging potential participants in planning a pipeline extension for easier delivery to them. Meanwhile, the city required the use of reclaimed water in all construction projects, making it available at two fill stations. Finally, as state and regional water restrictions tightened last year, Healdsburg started free residential deliveries of up to 500 gallons per subscriber every week.

Accommodating a diverse range of users is crucial, says Fuss, to balancing supply and demand. "We know we can achieve compliance during a drought, when the influent - the amount of wastewater we need to treat - is reduced because people are conserving, while the demand on the other end is greater," he says. A wet or normal year would flip the equation, which, without sufficient spigots, would quickly overflow the system.

Managing wastewater discharge quality is actually a major motivator of water-recycling projects in California, says Thebo. And as a rule, developing multiple benefits seems to be the common driver to success. "They're at the core of the partnerships that form between cities, growers, environmental groups, and the slew of other stakeholders. And they're also what gets the community and local politicians engaged."

In Healdsburg, there seems to be no shortage of community engagement. Popularity, in fact, killed the residential delivery program, which at its peak served more than a quarter of city households. "It was [financially] untenable as a long-term strategy," says water and wastewater superintendent Rob Scates, "but it definitely helped get the word out." The water is still given away at filling stations, and several hauling companies deliver for a small fee (Simmons reports paying $40 for each biweekly delivery).

The city, however, isn't taking chances. As extra insurance, it recently broadened permissible uses to include pastures, commercial orchards, and nondairy livestock. And plans are in the works to extend the pipe network - painted purple to denote the non-potable supply - directly into town for municipal irrigation, thanks to a $7 million state grant. "Word's gotten out that the water quality is very good, and it's a pretty reliable system," says Scates. "Now [users] are really hooked on it. They keep us in compliance."

As an early adopter, Dennis De La Montanya, owner of De La Montanya Vineyards, has no apprehension. He's been irrigating the grapes that produce his award-winning pinot noir and chardonnay off the purple pipes for years. "It's been a real boon in terms of water availability. And we don't put a strain on groundwater resources or the public water system," he says. "It's a win-win."

Tangible outcomes like this make the real value of recycled water apparent, says Thebo. "So many of the challenges of water scarcity can feel intractable. But when people can see solutions that impact their daily life, I think it becomes a point of pride for the community."


Naoki Nitta wrote this article for Grist.


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Michigan water rates have surged more than 40% since 2010, and it is a trend that's expected to continue as cities and utilities work to upgrade aging systems.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said people shouldn't be paying more than 4.5% of their monthly income for water and sewer services.

Monica Lewis-Patrick, co-founder, president and CEO of We the People of Detroit, said water rates can run as high as 25% of some households' income.

"When a person is spending that much just to access water, then we know some other things are being challenged," Lewis-Patrick explained. "In terms of their access to food, being able to pay their rent, clothing, medical needs, those kinds of things."

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill to invest nearly $280 million for water infrastructure projects, but Lewis-Patrick argued there is a lot more to be done.

If water rates rise at projected amounts in the next five years, the percentage of U.S. households finding their water bills unaffordable could triple, from almost 12% now, to more than 35%.

A 2021 report in the Journal of Public Health estimated 100,000 Detroit households had been disconnected from water and sanitation services since 2013.

Lewis-Patrick suggested people contact their state lawmakers to ask them to make water affordability a priority, and legislate lower-income households have water bills capped at no more than 3% of their income. She added families should also be protected from water shut-offs while they are going through the process to attain protections.

"We need our legislators and our governor to work in tandem," Lewis-Patrick stressed. "To make sure that we're not only ensuring that resources are going to the utilities, but we're ensuring there's a legislative protection that keeps water on for as many Michiganders as possible."

Last month, after years of public campaigns and $45 million in federal aid, the EPA confirmed Benton Harbor complies with safe water requirements. Almost all the system's pipes were replaced, but residents were told in the next five years, water bills will grow 10% annually.

It is estimated around 200 communities across Michigan are overburdened with the cost of their water infrastructure.


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With kids in South Dakota and around the nation back in school, the issue of whether all students and staff have access to safe drinking water remains a focal point of education and environmental groups. They want federal officials to update a key rule.

Organizations such as the National Parent Teacher Association and National Education Association have sent the Environmental Protection Agency a letter - asking it to bolster the Lead and Copper Rule, which regulates the levels of these contaminants in public drinking water.

Environment America signed on to the letter too, and the group's Clean Water Director John Rumpler said despite more awareness about the dangers, students and teachers still are at risk.

"What the data shows us, from the last few years," said Rumpler, "is that lead contamination of schools' drinking water is in fact, widespread."

Recent findings from his group show that more than 70% of schools in several states have confirmed instances of lead contamination.

The Biden administration is carrying out funding initiatives approved by Congress to remove lead pipes. That includes $426,000 to address the matter in South Dakota schools.

But Rumpler said updating the federal rule would compel more states, school boards and utilities to respond.

The agency is expected to consider the matter this fall, and advocates say they want the EPA to be aggressive.

Despite an overhaul of the Lead and Copper Rule in 2021, Rumpler still described it as "weak" in protecting kids. He added that this is not just a concern regarding schools that were built decades ago.

"The federal standards limiting the amount of lead in plumbing and faucets and fountains was only updated as recently as 2014," said Rumpler, "which means it's quite likely that school buildings that are only a decade old have a substantial threat of lead contamination."

The coalition says those materials should be replaced. Meanwhile, it says only schools that provide their own water are regulated under the federal rule.

For these buildings, the letter calls on the EPA to require filters to remove lead and set a one-part-per-billion limit on lead in water. They say those changes would also help guide school districts that use public water systems.




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Connecticut legislators and environmentalists are taking action against an invasive species in the Connecticut River.

Hydrilla was first identified in the waterway in 2016, and has slowly made its way to other parts of the state. Surveys done in 2019 and 2020 found the plant made its way as far as Agawam, Massachusetts. Now, the concern is it can lead to other waterways such as the Long Island Sound.

Rhea Drozdenko, river steward for the Connecticut River Conservancy, described the long-term effects Hydrilla can have.

"Hydrilla will completely outcompete any other native aquatic species including eelgrass, which is really beneficial for our native wildlife, our native fish," Drozdenko explained. "It can completely take over, replace all native plants with itself."

She pointed out the plant's decomposition at the end of the season consumes a lot of oxygen from the water column.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be applying nontoxic Rhodamine dye to different parts of the Connecticut River to learn more about how to maintain and eliminate the species. Site-specific treatment surveys will be done in fall 2024 to review the Hydrilla's condition.

Some short-term solutions being taken to battle Hydrilla include establishing benthic barriers along the Connecticut River and having boaters practice the clean, drain and dry method.

Drozdenko noted some of the challenges the species poses to the river.

"If a cove gets completely choked out by Hydrilla, no one's going to come and put their boat in there anymore," Drozdenko contended. "They're not going to come to that town. So, there's a lot of fears around economic and tourist loss."

The National Invasive Species Information Center finds most East Coast states have some form of Hydrilla in their waterways.


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