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IEUA officials brief Upland council on wastewater reuse, groundwater storage and workforce needs
Summary
Inland Empire Utilities Agency leaders told the Upland council the region recycles most wastewater and new state regulations enable direct potable reuse; they described plans to expand groundwater storage toward nearly 900,000 acre‑feet and emphasized workforce training.
Representatives from the Inland Empire Utilities Agency briefed the Upland City Council on Oct. 14 about regional water supplies, recycled‑water programs and workforce needs.
Shivaji Deshmukh, IEUA general manager, explained roughly one‑third of the region’s supply comes from the State Water Project and the remainder from groundwater recharged by recycled water and stormwater. Deshmukh described wastewater treatment operations, the RP5 expansion in Chino, and a Chino Basin program intended to increase local storage and reuse.
‘‘We are one of the few agencies that for over 20 years has been doing something called potable reuse,’’ Deshmukh said, adding that on Oct. 1 the state approved regulations that enable direct potable reuse with additional treatment that could deliver water directly to treatment plants.
IEUA board president Marco Thule said the agency’s storage planning and newly permitted reuse pathways could increase the northern basin’s available supply by about 15,000 acre‑feet and allow the region to store substantially more groundwater (he described increases from a prior cap near 700,000 to numbers above 900,000 acre‑feet). He also stressed that prior constraints had resulted in exported groundwater reaching Orange County and that the agency is working to retain water locally.
Council members asked about public‑health monitoring, and IEUA said it partners with county public‑health agencies and national partners to analyze wastewater samples for viruses, including COVID‑19. Staff also outlined outreach programs (Earth Day tours for students, IE Works workforce pipeline) and noted that a fully certified grade‑5 wastewater operator’s market salary can be well over $100,000.
IEUA representatives invited council and staff to tour facilities and said they will follow up on reservoir locations and other specifics.
The presentation intended to inform council decisions that intersect with the city’s infrastructure and future water reliability planning.
