Earlier this summer, Palmdale Water District broke ground on the Pure Water Antelope Valley (Pure Water AV) facility—a demonstration project to model capabilities for advanced water treatment and groundwater recharge. With Stantec serving as Program Manager and leading the design of the demonstration facility, VX News interviewed Stantec Pacific Water Division VP, Tama Snow, on this and other Pure Water projects across Southern California. Emphasizing the sea-change in public understanding and acceptance of water treatment and recycling technology, Snow highlights the opportunities for water recycling and banking to address some of the region’s most pressing water challenges.
As you may know, VerdeXchange has published numerous interviews over the years with leading Southern California water managers focused on the collaboration required among various agencies to build more climate-resilient water systems. It won’t surprise our readers to learn that Stantec is involved in many of these agency system alignment and resiliency conversations. Elaborate on Stantec’s current planning & design of reuse water projects.
Stantec is involved in several water reuse and water banking projects, and we’re at the forefront of these types of initiatives—working on both direct and indirect potable reuse. These projects can be controversial as they sometimes lead to increased rates for ratepayers. We’re always very mindful of finding opportunities for our many clients to save money for stakeholders and the public.
Remind our readers why designing the ‘re-plumbing’ of Southern California water systems is currently being prioritized and why banking and recycled potable water are increasingly client priorities?
Part of the reason we’re moving in this direction is to drought-proof our region by diversifying water supplies. This includes recycled water in addition to imported water. California faces extreme cycles due to climate change—severe droughts followed by heavy rains. Recycled water helps buffer against these extremes, and water banking projects allow us to store water during wet years for use during dry years. This is a big part of the ‘re-plumbing’ strategy.
Are the water issues in Northern California the same as in Southern California?
The issues in Northern California are different. We have more water in Northern California, and the challenge is how to move that water to Southern California. There’s also subsidence due to the over-pumping of groundwater basins, so we do a lot of studies on this and how to minimize further subsidence. We focus heavily on water resources projects in Northern California.
With whom, re clients, is Stantec is currently working for & with?
We’re collaborating with numerous utilities and municipalities throughout California. Some clients include the Metropolitan Water District, the Antelope Valley East Kern Water District on a major water banking project, the Palmdale Water District on its Pure Water Antelope Valley recycled water program, LA County Sanitation District, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Los Angeles Department of Public Works. We’re also very excited to be working with the City of San Diego on its large-scale Pure Water San Diego program—where we’re involved in both phases one and two.
When you say you’re working with them, what specific challenges is Stantec be tasked to address?
We work in many capacities. For example, for Pure Water San Diego, we’re providing program management, overseeing preliminary design, managing construction contracts, and coordinating with multiple other design consultants. Essentially, we function as an extension of city staff for this project.
Pure Water San Diego is a direct potable reuse program that takes recycled water—essentially wastewater—and treats it to potable water standards. The treated water is stored in a reservoir, blended with other sources, then undergoes further treatment to ensure it meets drinking water quality standards before distribution.
Elaborate on Antelope Valley’s Pure Water program.
For the Pure Water Antelope Valley project, we’re the program managers. We’re designing a demonstration facility that will provide valuable data to inform design of the full-scale facility planned for the Palmdale project. This demonstration facility is currently under construction, and the insights we gain will guide the design of the final facility. For this program, we are also assisting the district with securing grants and loans for the program, providing public outreach and guiding Palmdale Water District on construction methodologies.
What are the Client’s priority objectives?
The demonstration facility is an advanced water treatment facility on a smaller scale. It will be operating at 200 gallons per minute, using recycled water from the Palmdale Water Reclamation Plant.
Right now, recycled water is used for landscape irrigation, but we’ll take it, advance-treat it, and test how it interacts with the proposed membranes and treatment technologies. This a step in the process of seeking regulatory approval for a full-scale facility, which would operate at 5 million gallons a day. That water would then be injected into the groundwater basin for recharge and ultimately available for extraction for drinking water
On the technology being utilized, we’ll be recommending microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet advanced oxidation—pretty standard for advanced water treatment. There are several vendors, and we usually recommend that multiple vendors submit proposals to ensure competitive options.
VX News recently interviewed Stephan Tucker, the General Manager of the Water Replenishment District (WRD). He spoke a lot about investments and collaboration with other water agencies to build a resilient water supply system. Is Stantec involved in some of these conversations?
Yes, Stantec often participates in discussions with multiple agencies on optimizing water supply and movement. We’re involved in planning for water demand, identifying potential water storage locations, and studying water banking options. Currently, we’re working with the Metropolitan Water District on locating additional storage sites. And, we frequently collaborate with other engineering firms.
It’s a strategic decision to build the best team for the client. We often team up with companies like Carollo, HDR, and Black & Veatch to bring together experts from different firms, ensuring we offer the strongest team for each project.
Let’s pivot to the Metropolitan Water District. For years, tension has existed within MWD of priorities …. like they say, "Alcohol is for drinking, and water is for fighting over." This includes debate on how much to invest in imported water versus local basin resources. How does that ongoing policy debate impact Stantec’s current and prospective work in the water space?
One of the big challenges in the water space is figuring out how climate change will impact us—it’s like looking into a crystal ball. We see these extreme weather events, and after a few years of heavy rainfall, people often assume the drought is over. But historically, California is almost always in a drought.
With climate change, who knows what’s next? We need to plan for the unknown, which is why focusing on securing local resources is crucial. It’s more cost-effective than importing water, and it prepares us for worst-case scenarios.
As Stantec’s Program Manager for Pure Water Antelope Valley, what priority challenges have you & the firm been tasked with?
There are quite a few. First, it's a disadvantaged community with limited funds, so finding funding for water projects is a challenge. The basin is overdrafted, relying heavily on imported water and groundwater. Groundwater recharge is a key part of the project, but it’s difficult given the financial constraints. They also face challenges with brine disposal.
In partnership with carbon removal startup Capture6, we’re exploring cutting-edge carbon capture technology using high-strength brine waste. We’re running a demonstration on this, and if it works, it could be groundbreaking for inland communities without access to ocean disposal, which may save money and land.
Years ago, we interviewed the Inland Empire Utilities Agency—they were doing impressive work. Do you see them as analogous to what you’re doing in Antelope Valley?
Absolutely. Inland Empire Utilities Agency has recently releaseda request for qualifications for their advanced water treatment facility.
Why do you think the public is so un-informed about SoCal’s water infrastructure and the growing need for resilience? Water is essential, yet it’s not talked about like the weather.
People often take water for granted—as long as it’s there when they turn on the tap, they don’t think about it. But when rates go up or if water is unavailable, they notice. Many municipalities do a great job with outreach, especially around recycled water. Thirty years ago, recycled water was limited to landscape irrigation, and there was fear about safety. Now, people are much more comfortable with it, especially in California.
You’ve been in water for three decades. How has technology for potable water solutions evolved over time; and, how has Stantec’s engineering work for clients changed over time?
The core technologies—microfiltration, reverse osmosis, UV, and advanced oxidation—haven’t changed much. The real evolution has been in public acceptance. With the demand for reliable local water supplies, people have become more comfortable with these technologies. The technology was always there; it’s the public's mindset that’s advanced.
For as long as our newsletters have covered water, Orange County has been a recognized water agency leader, more so than MWD or any other California water agency. What explains their highly regarded reputation?
I think Orange County Water District did a phenomenal job on the public relations side of things. In the very beginning, San Diego started trying to do indirect potable reuse years and years ago, long before Orange County Water District started their program.
Orange County Water District learned a lot of lessons from what happened in San Diego, where the "toilet-to-tap" label kind of killed that program early on. Orange County learned from that and did an extensive education program. They got a lot of folks on board and a lot of scientists to support the project. They had doctors, and many people weighed in on it—they probably had more support than any other recycled water program. It was very intentional. They wanted people to understand it, so they did amazing outreach. They reached out to groups like the Kiwanis, and even to knitting circles and similar community groups. They did a phenomenal job on their public outreach program.
If someone came into your office tomorrow saying they’re sending you to North Carolina or Florida after the recent hurricanes, what would the hurricane-impacted communities’ engineering priorities likely be?
Funny you ask that—just yesterday, we got a call through our Army Corps of Engineers contract asking for volunteers to support in North Carolina. We’re deploying about 40 engineers across North America to help with inspection and condition assessments to ensure pipeline safety and restore water and sanitary services, and we’re in the process of deploying those teams now.
Regarding the engineering side, they’ll have challenges with the water supply—many systems are likely shutdown. There’s no power, there’s debris everywhere, and they’re probably facing sanitary sewer issues with wastewater overflows. The destruction is serious. My daughter, who lives in Tampa, had to evacuate, so I have a personal perspective on this as well.
As the mayor or governor, how would you prioritize tackling these challenges?
I would deploy teams with expertise in working with FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers. It’s going to take a concerted effort, with experienced teams to make it happen.
Let me turn to the water bottling issue. Some say that we're going to live in a world where it's only the rich who can afford water, bottled water, or desalinated water. How do you see this issue?
Well, I certainly hope that's not the case, but I can see where folks are coming from. I think that we need to do everything we can to ensure that we have safe, affordable drinking water for everyone. I think that's why a lot of the work that we do in recycled water is so important. It's trying to come up with local solutions that can be cost-effective, that don’t rely on importing, and that can really help alleviate some of these water scarcity issues that we’re seeing. That’s why it's so critical to plan for the long term, you know? We need to look at alternative supplies to improve access.
Before closing this interview, how did you personally come to be a water engineer—a water buffalo?
So, while I was in school, I was going to engineering school, I was interning for a company called Keith Companies, which was more of a community development-type company. They had started a small municipal water group, and I was interning in the Transportation Group. I was pretty bored but I had a great mentor and supervisor. She noticed I was bored with things like traffic counts, and she got me transferred into thewater group. I started doing design for pipelines and pump stations, and it just took off from there. My passion is really recycled water.
I think there's a need in California, and it's been amazing seeing the transformation over the last 30 years. I'm focused primarily on California, managing the California Water business and Hawaii—that’s my region. So, I don't personally work all over the world, but we have staff who do.
Lastly, are you, personally—a veteran of water engineering in California—optimistic about our State and regional ability to build a climate resilient water system?
I am optimistic. I mean, you have to be, right? I think that we have the tools. We have the technology. We have a lot of intelligent and passionate people in this industry. And we’re seeing the public become more aware and more supportive of these projects, which is so important. California has always been at the forefront of innovation in this space, so I’m hopeful that we can continue to lead the way and make a difference for future generations.