News release
The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency is poised to assist 15 additional apartment complexes with its award-winning Water Efficiency Works – Multi-Family Apartment Project, after receiving notice of a preliminary award of $2 million in WaterSMART grant funds from the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency announced in a prepared statement.
The WaterSmart: Water and Energy Efficiency Grant, funded through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help pay for water efficiency upgrades to 2,600 apartment units. In addition, the grant will also support lawn replacement and irrigation efficiency program rebates. Total water savings is estimated at nearly 580 acre-feet, or 188 million gallons, annually.
The grant is a preliminary award, pending execution of the grant agreement.
“I am so proud of the work our team did in preparing this grant submission,” SCV Water Board President Gary Martin said in the release. “We are committed to looking for innovative funding opportunities to enhance water use efficiency in the SCV.”
The Water Efficiency Works – Multi-family Apartment Projects provides:
- Free facility/site check-ups and installation of free high-efficiency devices, including showerheads, kitchen and bathroom faucet aerators and rebates for WaterSense Certified toilets.
- Irrigation systems inspections.
- Rebates for purchasing and installing smart controllers.
- Other efficiency approvements, including turf conversion, high-efficiency sprinkler nozzles, pressure regulation and drip irrigation.
This grant award will help fund up to 4,600 ultra-high efficiency toilet rebates, and thousands of faucet aerators, showerheads and toilet flappers.
SCV Water’s WEW program launched in 2018 and focuses on multi-family apartments. Using the free Portfolio Manager Water Score tool for apartments provided by the EPA, SCV Water conservation staff developed a baseline analysis and efficiency benchmarking for more than 90% of apartments in the SCV. The program has received the prestigious U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense Award for three years running.
In addition, SCV Water recently received $5 million in grant funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Funds will go toward the Agency’s S Wells water treatment facility. Congressional Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, secured funds.
In late 2022, $84.7 million was invested in 36 communities across the west to respond to the drought. It is part of the $1 billion provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the innovative WaterSmart program. It supports states, tribes and local entities as they plan for and implement actions to increase water supply through investments to modernize existing infrastructure and avoid potential water conflicts. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates $8.3 billion for water infrastructure projects over the next five years to advance drought resilience.
