United Water Conservation District (UWCD) is beginning construction of a new iron and manganese treatment plant in Oxnard, Calif.
Once operational, the first phase of the plant’s operation will have the capacity to treat 3,500 gallons of groundwater per minute, while future phases can expand operations up to 8,500 gallons per minute, vastly improving water quality, water supply reliability, and drought resiliency.
“Sustained periods of drought have negatively impacted the water quality of UWCD’s El Rio wellfield and its Oxnard Hueneme pipeline system, as well as wells of neighboring water mutuals,” said UWCD general manager Mauricio E. Guardado Jr., “By removing the iron and manganese from the wells in the lower aquifer system and then using that water to blend with water from the upper aquifer system wells, we’re able to utilize up to 11,757 acre-feet of local groundwater supply per year — and that’s a tremendous benefit to the entire region.”
The Iron and Manganese Treatment plant, expected to be fully operational by February 2023, will treat the groundwater from existing LAS wells at the El Rio Water Treatment and Groundwater Recharge facility. By reducing iron and manganese concentrations in the water from LAS wells, UWCD will then use that water to blend with water from the UAS wells that contains high concentrations of nitrate during periods of drought.
“Collaboration is the key to the iron and manganese treatment project’s success,” stated UWCD Board President Bruce E. Dandy. “The District was able to secure the support of Congresswoman Julia Brownley, U.S. Naval Base Ventura County Commanding Officer Captain Jeff Chism and his successor Captain Robert Kimnach, the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water and Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency.”
Estimated to cost $10.32 million, about 65 percent of the plant’s costs had been supported by awards from both the State of California’s Department of Water Resources ($2.5 million) and the federal government’s DoD Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation ($4.21 million). This support greatly reducing the financial burden on UWCD ratepayers.
