Ventura Approves Advanced Water Purification Facility
The Ventura Planning Commission voted 4-0 to approve permits for a project that will create a new local drought-resilient water supply.
Updated on Nov. 12, 2026 in Utilities
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The Ventura Planning Commission voted 4-0 on November 5 to approve permits for the Ventura Water Pure Advanced Water Purification Facility. The facility will produce 4.8 million gallons of purified water per day and is designed to fulfill a city consent decree requiring diversion of wastewater discharges from the Santa Clara River Estuary.
Why it matters
The project is intended to establish a new drought-resilient water supply for Ventura and to shift wastewater discharges away from the Santa Clara River Estuary toward beneficial reuse. It is the city's response to a consent decree governing those discharges.
The facility will produce 4.8 million gallons of purified water per day, yielding about 3,600 acre-feet per year in Phase 1 and up to 5,400 acre-feet per year in future phases. The extraction does not specify construction or completion dates for either phase.
The players
City of Ventura
The City of Ventura is the Southern California municipality that owns and is advancing the water purification project to meet its consent decree obligations.
The details
The project sits on a 10.2-acre parcel at the southeastern corner of East Harbor Boulevard and Olivas Park Drive, with three main buildings and about 5.6 acres of native coastal landscaping. Treated wastewater will be injected into a deep groundwater aquifer near the Auto Center area, while concentrated reverse osmosis waste will be discharged through a new ocean outfall more than one mile offshore of Marina Park.
Timeline
November 5, 2026: Planning Commission votes 4-0 to approve the Coastal Development Permit and Planned Development Permit.
Roadmap
The project is the city's operational response to a consent decree requiring wastewater discharges from the Santa Clara River Estuary to be diverted to beneficial reuse. It also marks a shift toward locally controlled, drought-resilient water supply in place of discharges to the estuary.
The project is intended to create a new local water supply that is less dependent on outside sources during drought. Residents will not see direct changes from the extraction alone, as construction timing and any rate effects are not specified.
The takeaway
Locally treated wastewater can be used as a drought-resilient supply, but its success depends on permitting, infrastructure build-out and long-term extraction and injection management.
Further reading
Explore more Ventura utilities coverage to see how the city manages its water and power infrastructure.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Edhat Santa Barbara.
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