Residents of the Desert Hot Springs area have long recognized the need to protect our groundwater. This guardianship extends back prior to the 1970's when AD-1 was successfully formed and the Alan L. Horton Wastewater Treatment Plant was constructed. Since that time, area residents have approved a total of eight ADs in and around Desert Hot Springs and work continues to secure local, state, and federal funding for this important work.
It's important to note that as the District ads more sewer to our wastewater system, we must also increase the capacity at our wastewater processing plants to serve these customers. The District's Alan L. Horton Wastewater Treatment Plant is fast approaching its limit, processing close to 2 million gallons of wastewater a day. To reduce stress on the plant and add more capacity to our system, the District is currently developing a new Regional Water Reclamation Facility on 60 acres of land between 19th and 20th avenues, adjacent to the District’s solar installation. The new plant, along with a new West Valley Conveyance Line and a Collection System project in the area will add 1.5 million gallons of wastewater capacity to the MSWD system. The state-of-the-art facility will produce recycled water – a valuable alternative source of water – critical to the continued growth of our region and it will lessen flows at the District’s Horton Plant, extending the facility’s operational life by as much as 10 years.
To minimize the financial impact of construction on our customers, we have secured 100% of the funding for this project from state grants. The new Regional plant and its sister projects will allow us to continue expanding our wastewater system and move more homes to the sewer.