Written by Jennifer West, Managing Director of WateReuse California
As the impacts of California’s ongoing drought collide with new groundwater requirements, growers and cities in the San Joaquin Valley are scrambling to find sustainable water supply solutions.
But before the current crisis, Tulare Irrigation District (TID) and the City of Visalia (City) developed a model exchange program that brings as much as 11,000 acre feet a year of highly treated recycled water to growers while providing the City with surface water used for groundwater replenishment.
“The partnership has value beyond the water. We enjoy working with the City of Visalia. We consider them our neighbors, our partners, our friends. And we are lock step in developing sustainability for groundwater,” said Aaron Fukuda, General Manager of TID.