City of Camarillo Wins Earth Day Award for North Pleasant Valley Groundwater Desalter Facility

The County of Ventura Board of Supervisors recently recognized the City of Camarillo with an Earth Day 2022 Award for the North Pleasant Valley Groundwater Desalter Facility. The project was 20 years in the making and involved permitting from numerous agencies, several different funding sources, complex land acquisition and approvals, design, and construction. At a total project cost of $66 million, the desalter was nearly 50 percent funded by outside sources.

The California JPIA assisted the city with the project by reviewing construction contract insurance requirements and providing builder’s risk coverage for the project through the property insurance program.

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Signifying its importance to Camarillo and the region, the desalter has also been awarded the 2022 American Public Works Association (APWA) National Project of the Year in the Small Cities/Rural Communities Environment category. The city will be recognized at an awards ceremony during the annual APWA national expo in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 29, 2022.

Water conservation is swiftly becoming a more urgent environmental issue, and the desalter is an integral part of Camarillo’s critical infrastructure. Before considering the desalter, the city was expected by 2035 to import 70 percent of its water supply from the State Water Project (SWP). The desalter will provide reliable, drought-resistant potable water and allow the city to reduce imported SWP water to 25 percent of its water supply.

The desalter treats brackish groundwater from the northern portion of the Pleasant Valley Basin, turning it into potable water, doubling water supply production from local groundwater sources, and reducing the city’s dependence on imported water. The facility will aid the city in the sustainable use of natural resources as it continues to strive toward a more resilient and sustainable future for Camarillo and the region.

Congratulations, City of Camarillo!

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