LOS ANGELES, CA — At a virtual event with Mayor Eric Garcetti, California Water Resources Control Board Chair Joaquin Esquivel, and other officials, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox announced a $224-million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation. EPA’s WIFIA loan will help finance a project to purify wastewater and replenish the San Fernando Basin to bolster groundwater resources in this drought-stressed region.

“This mega-drought in the west is a forceful and persistent reminder that bold action is needed to protect our communities and address the climate crisis,” Fox said. “We see water infrastructure projects — like the Donald C. Tillman Advanced Water Purification Facility [AWPF] — as central to climate resiliency, and we commend our state and local partners for this project.”

The City of Los Angeles’s AWPF will turn the city’s wastewater into a sustainable water source to replenish the region’s groundwater and increase its resiliency to drought. Daily, 15.5 million gallons of the city’s wastewater will be purified and used to replenish the San Fernando Basin and its aquifers. EPA’s WIFIA loan will help finance construction of the AWPF and related infrastructure.

“Through investments in the Advanced Water Purification Facility and our Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, water credit programs like EPA’s WIFIA and the State Revolving Fund are helping to secure a sustainable water future for Los Angeles,” Garcetti said.

The $224-million WIFIA loan will finance nearly half of the $458-million project costs. The remaining project costs will be funded by revenue bonds and borrower cash. Project construction and operation are expected to create an estimated 1,400 jobs and construction is expected to be completed in 2027.