Riverside County Supervisors Allocate $6 Million for CVWD Water Infrastructure

RIVERSIDE – The Riverside County Board of Supervisors, by a vote of 4-0, today approved Supervisor V. Manuel Perez’s request to allocate $6 million from the Fourth District’s share of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for a water infrastructure project that will facilitate affordable housing development in the community of Mecca.

The county funding will be granted to the Coachella Valley Water District for the Ion Exchange Treatment Plant Project. The $6 million project will replace an old, non-functioning arsenic water treatment system in Mecca. A new arsenic water treatment system will serve existing and future water needs and remove a barrier to housing growth in Mecca.

Supervisor Perez views this as a prime example of how the funding and resources that come to Riverside County can be used to help support individuals and make major improvements for communities in the Fourth District, particularly with infrastructure that brings about more housing.

“A new water treatment plant will allow CVWD to expand the water system which will facilitate 600 to 700 new homes of affordable housing,” said Supervisor Perez. “To make that happen, that’s a victory.”

Supervisor Perez highlighted a positive development that took place last week, the award of $23.4 million in funding to CVWD from the State Water Resources Control Board for another project, the Avenue 66 Transmission Main Project. The project, which earlier received $7 million in state budget funding secured by State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, will build pipeline that will extend CVWD’s infrastructure and bring clean water to three communities and up to 35 future water systems.

Both the Avenue 66 Transmission Main Project and the Ion Exchange Treatment Plant Project will address massive infrastructure needs for safe drinking water and housing in the eastern Coachella Valley. They will assist the county’s efforts to increase the supply of housing, creating opportunities for more eastern Coachella Valley residents to improve their living conditions and move into safer, higher quality and more affordable housing.

CVWD Board Vice President Cástulo Estrada stated: “Supervisor Perez and the Coachella Valley Water District share the common goals of bringing infrastructure to our underserved communities. We’ve been working hand in hand over the last few years with our partners to bring services to areas in the eastern Coachella Valley that lack access to clean drinking water and have focused on expediting infrastructure projects that benefit affordable housing efforts in the east valley. Through these efforts, I am extremely proud to say that in less than a year we’ve been able to put together approximately $40 million to address a myriad of issues. We applaud Supervisor Perez’s leadership in allocating a portion of the ARPA funds available to the Fourth District for CVWD’s Ion Exchange Treatment Plant (IXTP) No. 7991.”

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Supervisor V. Manuel Perez represents the eastern two-thirds of Riverside County on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. Stretching from Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs, south to the Salton Sea and east to Blythe and the Colorado River, the 4^th District is the largest geographical district in the county.

Supervisor Perez’s office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.