Environmental Review

Get Involved in the Environmental
Review Process

In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, Metropolitan is seeking public input on its Draft Environmental Impact Report for Pure Water Southern California, a regional recycled water program that would purify and reuse cleaned wastewater that currently flows into the ocean. At full scale, the program could produce 150 million gallons of purified water each day, enough to meet the needs of millions of Southern Californians and make us more resilient to droughts, earthquakes and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. This proposed program would build an advanced water purification facility in Carson, as well as new pipelines to deliver that water to local groundwater basins and Metropolitan’s water treatment plants.

The DEIR is an important document that helps inform the public and decision-makers about a project's potential environmental impacts and identifies ways to avoid, minimize, or reduce those impacts.

Through July 14, 2025, the public can review the DEIR and provide comments about the adequacy of the environmental analysis, including the identification of potential environmental impacts, proposed mitigation measures, and program alternatives. Officially submitted comments will be reviewed by Metropolitan and addressed in the Final EIR.

As authorized by Senate Bill 149 (2023), Metropolitan anticipates seeking certification of Pure Water Southern California as an infrastructure project eligible to receive expedited judicial review under the California Environmental Quality Act. More information is available here.

Read the May 14, 2025 press release.

Learn More & Make Your Voice Heard

Public Information Meetings

Wednesday, May 28, 2025
11 a.m.
Virtual Meeting
Register Here

Thursday, June 12, 2025
6 p.m.
Virtual Meeting
Register Here

Saturday, June 14, 2025
10 a.m.
Location: Carson, California
Register Here

Meetings will provide information on the Pure Water Southern California Program and the opportunity to learn more about the public review and comment process. They will be held in English with live interpretation in Spanish. Other languages may be made available upon request. When registering for a public meeting, include any of your language needs within the form at least 72 hours prior to the meeting.

Community Events

Visit our booth at the following events to learn more about the program and the DEIR process.

Saturday, May 17, 2025
10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Heritage of Aloha Festival
Heritage Park
Santa Fe Springs

Saturday, June 21, 2025
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
City Yard Open House
Torrance City Yard
Torrance

Thursday, July 10, 2025
6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Summer Concert in the Park
Del Valle Park
Lakewood

Review a Copy of the DEIR

The DEIR and its appendices are available for public review at the following locations:

Metropolitan Headquarters Building
700 North Alameda Street
Los Angeles
Contact Ana Reyes for an appointment

Carson Library
151 E. Carson Street
Carson

Billie Jean King Main Library
200 W. Broadway
Long Beach

Downey City Library
11121 Brookshire Avenue
Downey

Pico Rivera Library
9001 Mines Avenue
Pico Rivera

El Monte Library
3224 Tyler Avenue
El Monte

Azusa City Library
729 N. Dalton Avenue
Azusa

A Guide to Participating & Providing Comments on the Draft EIR

Submit comments by July 14, 2025 using one of the following methods:

Submit comments here.

Email your comments to [email protected] and include “Pure Water Southern California Draft EIR” in the subject line.

Mail your written comments to:

Ms. Ana Reyes
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Environmental Planning Section
P.O. Box 54153
Los Angeles, CA 90054-0153

Steps in the Environmental Review Process

The environmental review process helps a project meet requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act. As part of this process, Metropolitan has prepared this Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Development of that report features three steps and opportunities for the public to get involved.

1. Scoping Phase: Complete

The first part of the environmental review process is the scoping phase, which is initiated by a Notice of Preparation that tells public agencies and interested parties that a Draft Environmental Impact Report will be prepared. Feedback is encouraged to help identify environmental issues and raise questions and concerns for further study in the Draft EIR. Potential environmental impacts, mitigation measures, and program alternatives also are considered.

The scoping phase was completed in November 2022.

2. Draft EIR: Available for public review and comment

The Draft EIR is now available for public review and comment. The Draft EIR informs the public and decision-makers about a project’s potential environmental impacts from the program’s construction and long-term operation and identifies ways to avoid, minimize or reduce those impacts.

Through July 14, 2025, the public can review the Draft EIR and provide comments about the adequacy of the environmental analysis, including the identification of potential environmental impacts, proposed mitigation measures and program alternatives. Officially submitted comments will be reviewed by Metropolitan and addressed in the Final EIR.

3. Final EIR Certification: Late 2025 – Early 2026

After reviewing and preparing responses to public comments provided during the DEIR stage, Metropolitan staff will finalize the EIR, which will be considered for certification by Metropolitan’s Board of Directors at a public board meeting.

SB 149 - Record of Proceeding

The California Environmental Quality Act record of proceeding, also called the administrative record, for Pure Water Southern California is provided here. Metropolitan is making the record available consistent with Senate Bill 149. The record is organized consistent with the 2025 California Rules of Court. If you have any difficulty accessing records in the CEQA record of proceeding, please contact [email protected].