Sacramento, Calif. — The Sacramento Area Sewer District’s (SacSewer’s) landmark water recycling project, Harvest Water, has been awarded an additional $73 million in both reallocated Proposition 1 grant funding and new Proposition 4 funds from the California Water Commission’s Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP). Harvest Water is California’s largest-ever agricultural water recycling project and is expected to be operational in 2027.
Once complete, Harvest Water will deliver up to 50,000 acre-feet, or roughly 16 billion gallons annually, of drought-resistant recycled water to agricultural lands and existing habitats in southern Sacramento County. By reducing the need to pump groundwater, Harvest Water will promote natural groundwater recovery, boost sustainable agriculture, and strengthen existing habitats.
“The additional funding from the California Water Commission is a tremendous boost to Harvest Water and a testament to the project’s significance in addressing water sustainability and resilience,” said Christoph Dobson, SacSewer’s General Manager. “SacSewer is making significant progress towards implementing a long-term, drought-resilient water solution that will benefit the entire region.”
Harvest Water has received significant financial support, including a previous award from the California Water Commission of $291.8 million in Proposition 1 WSIP funding and $30 million from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. This grant funding helped support project design and ongoing construction of needed infrastructure for the recycled water distribution system, which includes 41.4 miles of pipelines, on-farm connection improvements, and a large pumping station at SacSewer’s EchoWater Resource Recovery facility near Elk Grove.
With this latest financial commitment from the California Water Commission, the grant funding for the project now exceeds $394 million, further solidifying Harvest Water’s status as a cornerstone of sustainable water management in California.
To learn more about SacSewer’s Harvest Water project, visit our Harvest Water webpage.
