Yesterday, Santa Monica's Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project (SWIP) was awarded the 2023 Helen Putnam Award for Excellence by the League of California Cities. The city's ground-breaking water recycling scheme, designed to harness stormwater, urban runoff, and wastewater for reuse, currently produces about 10% of Santa Monica's water requirements, according to the City of Santa Monica news release.
Spanning nearly a decade, this award symbolises significant efforts made by SWIP. According to Water Resources Manager Sunny Wang the award "Confirms Santa Monica's forward-thinking stance on water conservation."
Located beneath the city's Civic Center parking lot the SWIP uses a triple approach to achieve its objectives. The project incorporates an advanced water treatment facility to a 1.5-million-gallon stormwater collection tank, and upgrades at the Santa Monica urban runoff recycling facility are just part of this initiative.
But SWIP has become more than just a water recycling project. It's now an emblem of innovation and dedication to community-driven processes and commitments to water self-sustainability and regional collaborations. City Manager David White cited the SWIP as a critical move towards achieving "water self-sufficiency, and also freeing up regional water resources."
Earlier this year, the SWIP was not alone in garnering accolades in the sector of water sustainability. An additional 10 city projects earned the Helen Putnam Award, marking a broader interest by Californian cities in proactively addressing issues related to climate change and resource scarcity. This trend of recognizing and responding to these challenges points to a new sustainable approach statewide, as mentioned on the news release.
Water sustainability is a critical concern that expands beyond state lines and is gradually gaining attention across the United States. Santa Monica stands distinct in its recognition of these challenges and its active endeavor, such as the SWIP, to devise innovative solutions. In the words of Mayor Himmelrich, this positions Santa Monica as a "city that models achievement."
