Carpinteria Advanced Purification Project Awarded Over $27 Million in Grant Funding – CVN Article, November 14, 2024
Written by: Robert McDonald, General Manager of Carpinteria Valley Water District
The Carpinteria Advanced Purification Project (CAPP), a partnership between the Carpinteria Valley Water District and the Carpinteria Sanitary District, was awarded its fourth grant to replenish the local groundwater basin with purified recycled water.
CAPP was awarded $8,711,622 from the US Bureau of Reclamation’s Title XVI program, which provides funding to reuse wastewater. In 2022, CAPP was awarded $9,659,990 from the same funding program – bringing the total grants awarded from the US Bureau of Reclamation to $18,371,612. The grant reimburses CVWD for 25% for all eligible CAPP costs.
In a letter of support for the grant, U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal said, “Since most of CVWD’s water is imported, the Carpinteria area is reliant on a water supply that is vulnerable to natural disasters and drought.”
The CAPP Project has also received support from U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler and California Legislature Assemblymember Gregg Hart. Supporters agree that CAPP will create a local, sustainable water source for Carpinteria to increase water supply resilience.
In June of 2023, the California Department of Water Resources awarded CVWD $1,150,610 through the Department’s Integrated Regional Water Management Program, a collaborative effort to implement high-value, regional water management solutions in the state.
That same year, California’s State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)’s assigned $15 million to CAPP through their Water Recycling Funding Program. However, due to state deficit cuts in 2024, this grant funding amount was reduced to $8 million in August 2024.
In total, this brings the award amounts to over $27.5 million, or nearly 40% of CAPP capital costs, minimizing the cost to ratepayers. The remaining funds will come from a 1.7% interest loan from the State; this will further reduce the rate impacts by allowing the District to borrow money well below market rates.
“The time is right for a project like CAPP,” Carpinteria Valley Water District’s General Manager, Robert McDonald, said, “With grant funding available now more than ever before, broad state-wide and community support for the project, and reliance on increasingly unstable sources of water, it’s time to give Carpinteria the reliable, locally-owned water we need.”
Carpinteria purchases surface water from the State Water Project and Cachuma Project. Both sources have been and are projected to grow more unpredictable due to increased environmental and regulatory pressures and climate change challenges like frequent and long-term droughts. The investments we make today by securing CAPP will secure a water supply for future generations.
In 2016, for example, Carpinteria received no water from Lake Cachuma due to four years of drought.
According to a new analysis by the California Department of Water Resources, the state’s ability to deliver and the reliability of sufficient State Water Project water for communities who rely on it “could be reduced as much as 23 percent in 20 years due to changing flow patterns and extreme weather shifts.”
This new analysis underscores the need for upgraded infrastructure and drought-resilient solutions to current and future water challenges.
When faced with limited or no water from these sources, Carpinteria is dependent on pumping groundwater from the Carpinteria Groundwater Basin to deliver water to customer taps. However, groundwater takes years to recharge and requires steady and consistent winter rain, which is never guaranteed.
According to California’s Groundwater Semi-Annual Conditions Update in May of 2024:
“While wet years offer temporary relief, achieving sustainable water management necessitates long-term planning and adaptation strategies, particularly in the context of a projected hotter, drier climate in California. Despite the positive trends in groundwater conditions... long-term groundwater storage deficits persist today.”
CAPP will replenish the local groundwater basin with purified recycled water, creating a locally controlled, resilient, and drought-resistant drinking water supply for our community and future generations of Carpinteria residents. CVWD continues to pursue grant funding, but existing opportunities have been maximized. However, with the approval of Proposition 4, the “Parks, Environment, Energy, and Water Bond Measure,” an additional $10 Billion in state funds will become available for projects such as these. For more information about CAPP, visit cvwd.net/capp. Follow CVWD on X @CarpWater or Carpinteria Valley Water District on Facebook and Nextdoor.
Figure 1. Historical Water Supply Availability versus Customer Demand and Change in Groundwater Storage
This leaves our only groundwater source — the Carpinteria Groundwater Basin (Basin). Without CAPP, the Basin can provide a long-term average sustainable yield of around 1,200 acre-feet (af), or 390 million gallons, of water per year. With CAPP, we will nearly double how much groundwater we can pump without adversely impacting the long-term health of the Basin.
We depended upon groundwater during the last drought-period when surface water supplies dwindled or were unavailable. Because this water source was relied upon so heavily by both CVWD and private pumpers in recent years, water in storage has declined significantly. That means this water supply will be less available until water levels in the Basin recover. The line displaying a startling downward trend overlying the annual water supply data in Figure 1 is the estimated cumulative change in groundwater storage in the Basin. In 2018, the Basin was designated as a high-priority groundwater basin by the California Department of Water Resources as a part of enforcing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The designation of a high-priority groundwater basin is reserved for those basins that are essential for providing drinking water and supporting agricultural operations, and are at risk of unsustainable conditions due to excessive consumption.
It is evident that our groundwater storage has drastically decreased, and it is important to reduce strain on this important resource. CAPP will help to increase groundwater levels and supplement naturally-occurring groundwater recharge since purified water will be injected into the Basin for storage and later use.
By developing CAPP, the Carpinteria Valley will be prepared for future droughts and will be able to survive them when faced with minimal surface water supplies. This new water source will increase our climate change resiliency and allow for adaptability as environmental and regulatory pressures impact our other water resources. We cannot let two wet winters distract us from the extreme value that CAPP will provide to our community and to future generations in Carpinteria - CAPP will prepare Carpinteria to thrive during the next extended drought, replenish the groundwater basin, and increase local control over CVWD supplies.
As we continue to make forward strides on CAPP, we encourage you to explore the CAPP website at