Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto D-Nev., and Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., have announced new funding for a large-scale water recycling facility designed to reduce Southern California’s reliance on Colorado River water and keep more water in Lake Mead.

The Department of the Interior has awarded $99 million to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to fund the first phase of the Pure Water Southern California facility, which will produce an estimated 129,000 acre-feet of water per year, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). That’s enough to serve approximately 386,000 households in Southern California and Southern Nevada.

The SNWA has authorized $750 million to fund a portion of the project, which means it will own a share of the recycled water produced there. Spokesman Bronson Mack told the Weekly that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will use the SNWA’s share of water locally, in exchange for an equal share of Southern California’s Colorado River water. 

“Rather than pipe and pump that water from LA to Las Vegas, California will simply leave a share of its Colorado River water in Lake Mead for Southern Nevada, which we will access via our existing infrastructure,” Mack said in a statement.

The funding comes from the large-scale water recycling program within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Cortez Masto and Lee introduced the program through legislation passed in their respective chambers.

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