NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY
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| To: |
California Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation; Responsible, Trustee, and Other Jurisdictional Agencies; and Other Interested Parties
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| From: |
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Environmental Planning Section
700 North Alameda Street
Los Angeles, California 90012
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| Subject: |
Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Report and Notice of Public Meetings for Pure Water Southern California (SCH No. 2022090654)
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| Review Period: |
May 14, 2025 to July 14, 2025
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The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) is the Lead Agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Pure Water Southern California (Pure Water; SCH No. 2022090654). This Notice of Availability (NOA) is being sent to responsible, trustee, and other public agencies, as well as interested organizations and individuals, as part of the review process required under CEQA (Public Resources Code Sections 21091 and 21092).
Project Location: Pure Water’s proposed facilities and components would be located within Los Angeles County and would extend from the City of Carson to as far north as the City of Azusa and as far east as the City of La Verne (See Figure 1). Some of Pure Water’s facilities and components and its alternatives would be located on or in proximity to impacted sites, as identified under Section 65962.5 of the Government Code (See Attachment 1 – Listed Hazardous Waste Sites).
Project Description: Pure Water is a proposed partnership between Metropolitan and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (Sanitation Districts) to beneficially reuse cleaned wastewater that currently is being discharged to the Pacific Ocean from the Sanitation Districts’ A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility (Warren Facility) in the City of Carson. Pure Water would produce a new sustainable local water supply by harvesting one of the region’s largest untapped sources of cleaned wastewater to produce nearly 155,000 acre-feet per year of highly purified water, enough to meet the annual needs of over 500,000 households. A new Advanced Water Purification Facility would be constructed on currently undeveloped property within and adjacent to the Warren Facility. The purified water would then be transported and distributed via new conveyance facilities as far north as the City of Azusa and as far east as the City of La Verne. The purified water would be used primarily to recharge the West Coast, Central, and Main San Gabriel groundwater basins through spreading facilities and injection wells and to augment water supplies at existing water treatment plants owned and operated by Metropolitan within its service area.
Potential Environmental Effects: In accordance with CEQA, the Draft EIR evaluates “direct physical changes… and reasonably foreseeable indirect physical changes in the environment which may be caused by the project.” The Draft EIR also evaluates whether any such changes that it identifies are individually or cumulatively significant. In addition to evaluating the potential impacts of Pure Water on the environment, the Draft EIR presents feasible mitigation and analyzes potential project alternatives. The Draft EIR identifies potentially significant effects related to air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, geology and soils (paleontological resources), noise, and tribal cultural resources. Biological and paleontological resource impacts would be reduced to a less-than-significant level through the incorporation of mitigation measures presented in the Draft EIR. Air quality, cultural resources, noise, and tribal cultural resources impacts associated with Pure Water construction would be reduced through the mitigation measures presented; however, these impacts would remain significant.
Public Review and Comment Period: Under CEQA, the public review period for a draft EIR “shall not be less than 30 days nor shall it be longer than 60 days except under unusual circumstances” (Public Resources Code Section 21091; CEQA Guidelines Sections 15087 and 15105(a)). For Pure Water, Metropolitan is providing a public comment period of 61 days that will close on Monday, July 14, 2025. All written comments on the Draft EIR must be received or postmarked on or before that date.
To ensure public access, copies of the NOA, Draft EIR, and appendices are available via the QR code or on Metropolitan’s website at https://www.mwdh2o.com/purewaterDEIR. These documents are also available to the public at the following locations:
- Metropolitan’s headquarters, 700 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, during normal business hours. Please contact Ms. Ana Reyes at the e-mail address listed below to arrange an appointment for review.
- The following public libraries:
- Carson Library (151 E. Carson Street, Carson, CA 90745)
- Billie Jean King Main Library (200 W. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802)
- Downey City Library (11121 Brookshire Avenue, Downey, CA 90241)
- Pico Rivera Library (9001 Mines Avenue, Pico Rivera, CA 90660)
- El Monte Library (3224 Tyler Avenue, El Monte, CA 91731)
- Azusa City Library (729 N. Dalton Avenue, Azusa, CA 91702)
Additionally, public meetings to discuss the topics addressed in the Draft EIR are scheduled as follows.
Virtual public meetings are currently scheduled for:
May 28, 2025, 11 a.m.
June 12, 2025, 6 p.m.
An in-person public meeting and optional tour are currently scheduled for:
June 14, 2025
Meeting: 10 a.m. – 12 noon / Tour: 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.
A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility
24501 S. Figueroa Street Carson, CA 90745
Please visit Metropolitan’s website at www.mwdh2o.com/purewater for updated meeting information and to register for public meetings. Live interpretation in Spanish will be offered. Live interpretation to select other languages may be available upon request. You can indicate your language needs when registering to attend a public meeting. If you did not include your language needs during registration, please email [email protected] at least 72 hours prior to the meeting.
Comments and Responses: Metropolitan is soliciting written comments on the Draft EIR for Pure Water. All comments must be received or postmarked by July 14, 2025. Pursuant to Section 15204 of the CEQA Guidelines, in reviewing Draft EIRs, persons and public agencies should focus on the sufficiency of the document in identifying and analyzing the possible impacts on the environment and ways in which the significant effects of the project might be avoided or mitigated. All comments should include a name, mailing address, and telephone number and/or email address of a contact person. Comments may be submitted using any of the following methods:
| Mail to: |
Ms. Ana Reyes
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Environmental Planning Section
P.O. Box 54153
Los Angeles, CA 90054-0153 |
| Email to: |
[email protected] (reference “Pure Water Southern California” in the subject line) |
| Online comment portal: |
Available at www.mwdh2o.com/purewaterDEIR |
Following close of the public comment period, responses to comments received on the Draft EIR will be prepared, and, together with any corresponding revisions to the Draft EIR, will constitute a Final EIR. The Final EIR will be considered and may be acted upon by Metropolitan’s Board of Directors at a noticed public meeting.
Attachment 1
Listed Hazardous Waste Sites
| Property |
Location |
Relationship to Pure Water
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Database
|
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Fletcher Oil Refining
Company
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24721 South Main
Street, Carson, CA
90745
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Contains majority of Advanced
Water Purification Facility site
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Spills, Leaks, Investigations, and Cleanups
Program
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United Oil #61
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320 East Sepulveda
Boulevard, Carson,
CA 90745
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Adjacent to backbone alignment
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Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Site
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Thrifty #073
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23900 South Avalon
Boulevard, Carson,
CA 90745
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Adjacent to backbone alignment
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Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Site
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Montrose Chemical
Corp.
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20201 South
Normandie Avenue,
Torrance, CA 90502;
Dominguez Channel
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Overlaps backbone alignment
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Superfund Site; National Priority List
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Alameda Corridor
Transportation
Authority Parcels
PCH-1552, 1553,
1554
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East Alameda
Street, Carson, CA
90810
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Overlaps backbone alignment
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Spills, Leaks, Investigations, and Cleanups
Program
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Alameda Corridor
Transportation
Authority South –
Parcel SE-349
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South Alameda
Street, Carson, CA
90810
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Overlaps backbone alignment
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Spills, Leaks, Investigations, and Cleanups
Program
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Mobil #18-MPL
(Former #11-MPL)
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2626 Del Amo
Boulevard,
Lakewood, CA
90712
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Adjacent to backbone alignment
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Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Site
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George Adamian
Property
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2709 South Street,
Long Beach, CA
90805
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Adjacent to backbone alignment
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Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Site
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United Oil #73
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3495 South Street,
Long Beach, CA
90805
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Adjacent to backbone alignment
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Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Site
|
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ARCO Terminal
Services Corp. /
Arco East Hynes
Terminal
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5905 Paramount
Boulevard, Long
Beach, CA 90805
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Approximately 650 feet north of
backbone alignment
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Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Site and Spills, Leaks,
Investigations, and Cleanups Program
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EEL Holdings, LLC
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3265 59th Street E,
Long Beach, CA
90805
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Approximately 1,000 feet north of
backbone alignment
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Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Site
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Mobil #18-MNK
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4311 South Street,
Lakewood, CA
90712
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Adjacent to backbone alignment
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Leaking Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Site
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San Gabriel Valley
(Area 2)
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Sunset & San
Bernardino Freeway
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Overlaps backbone alignment
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Superfund Site; National Priority List
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Jonell Oil Corp.
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13649 Live Oak
Lane, Irwindale, CA
91706
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Adjacent to backbone alignment
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National Priority List
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