Pure Water is San Diego’s envisioned water-recycling program that would eventually provide a third of the city’s total supply of drinkable water. In this photo on Nov. 17, 2015, people tour the program’s pilot-project site.
Editor’s note: An error in this editorial was corrected at 3:30 p.m. May 11.
San Diego’s leaders took a bold, smart step in 2014 when they endorsed the Pure Water project, a $3.5 billion plan to turn sewage water into drinkable water — enough to supply one-third of city needs by 2035. After two more years of drought, the decision looks smarter than ever.
Unfortunately, the project now has a serious obstacle. Congress is balking at passing a law exempting Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant from meeting federal water quality standards. Such an exemption is crucial to limit the city’s exposure to lawsuits that could force it to spend billions upgrading the Point Loma plant. Even though Pure Water would reduce the amount of treated sewage going into the ocean in the long run, environmental groups worry that the exemption San Diego wants may lead to a flurry of efforts by the Republican-controlled Congress to weaken the Clean Water Act.
This could happen. Nevertheless, San Diego’s project is worth fighting for. Not only should San Diego County’s congressional delegation push for the Point Loma exemption; so should California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. And if President Obama wants to burnish his administration’s green credentials one more time, embracing Pure Water makes considerable sense.