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Water Reclamation and developers find it important to have attractively landscaped buildings.They Recycled Water's want thew properties r look lush." Though not required by law to pay for dual water systems,industrial prop- erty developers whose landscape died of drought-thirst are willing to pay the tab. (One developer even elected to pump the recycled water when the district couldn't Edmund Biederman's precipitous plan proves Kermit (the frog) wrong: provide the hydraulics,says Biederman.) It is easy being green, even In a drought. Individual businesses are also opting to pay to retrofit for the dual system. Even with the use of sophisticated irrigation systems like tensiometers that he forecast for Californians in important,Brown and Caldwell set up continuously measure soil moisture and the year 2020:Water shortages, the myriad institutional and financial irrigate only as needed,the district this not just in drought years but in arrangements,writing user ordinances, summer pumped three million gallons of years of normal rainfall. establishing pricing policy,and putting recycled water daily. "Everyone has their Southern California could be together cash-flow necessary for financial straw in the glass;says Biederman.A especially hard hit,with annual planning,to get the project off(and out four million gallon reservoir now han- water shortages of 400,000 acre-ft.in of) the ground. dles the ever-increasing demand,and the years of normal rainfall and one million Completed in 1986,the system uses district is currently discussing providing acre-ft.in years of drought. (An acre-foot treated Pomona wastewater to irrigate additional quantities to existing business is the quantity of water needed to cover everything from commercial landscaping parks in the City of Industry. one acre to the depth of one foot.) to golf courses,school yards,and high- Continued on page 9 Don't expect the Colorado River— way meridians in the district which provides much of the area's 20 miles east of Los Angeles. water—to run to the rescue.The 1994 The original system revised California Water Plan predicts provided 700 acre-feet of reductions from that source,which water annually;recent �P accounts for half the water now used by expansions to the distribu- the Metropolitan Water District(MWD) tion system will result in its of Southern California to supply 16 mil- reaching 2,200 acre-feet ►1�p `- lion residents.And local groundwater this year. ? i and Northern California sources aren't During the 1988-1992 drought-proof either. drought,many jurisdic- " Even before the 1988-92 drought tions restricted potable brought this scenario home,Edmund M. water irrigation.But within t Biederman,general manager of the the 28 square-mile con- Walnut Valley(Calif.)Water District, fines of the Walnut Valley y had divined a new water source: Water District,use of recy- 4 "I recommend everyone take a hard cled water meant that flow- look at recycling,"he says. ers bloomed and the land- scape remained a striking, A legacy of plenty bright green. ' Biederman is building on a vision. As early as 1929,the city of Pomona A fellable alternative had launched its own recycled water "The business community landscape irrigation project,operating is fine-tuned to the use of -- a treatment plant that supplied Walnut recycled water—not so ~ area citrus farmers with treated waste- much because of its 15 water for grove irrigation.This waste- percent cost savings over water treatment plant was later acquired potable water,but because by the County Sanitation Districts of Los recycled water is a source Angeles,which today operates the largest they can trust--even in a recycled water program in the world. drought;says Biederman. In 1981,Biederman contracted with Businesses can be assured Brown and Caldwell to design a dual of a constant source of water distribution system that included recycled water,whereas over 20 miles of pipeline,a two million potable water might be gallon reservoir,a six-million gallons per restricted during a day(mgd)pumping station,and one 500 drought. "The real estate gallons per minute (gpm)well. No less market is very competitive, BROWN AND CALDWELL QUARTERLY 1