New Recycled Water Season Begins

Recycled water has again begun flowing from Marina to farmlands in Castroville.

During the 2003 production year, the recycled water facility produced 13,177 acre-feet of water, which significantly exceeded the production of previous years. The water is used to irrigate food crops. Since the facility was completed in 1996, over 20 billion gallons of recycled water have been provided for irrigation. That's 20 billion gallons of water that have not been pumped out of the 400-foot aquifier. The recycled water has been shown to be as safe as the safest irrigation water available to growers anywhere.

The water recycling facility is located at the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency's treatment plant in Marina. The recycling facility, part of the Salinas Valley Water Recycling Projects and Castroville Seawater Intrusion Project, is estimated to be the largest of its kind in the United States.