At a recent City Council meeting a resident inquired as to how the City uses recycled water in parks and landscaped areas and whether the use of recycled water could be expanded to more facilities to achieve greater water savings.

Costa Mesa has been a leader in the use of recycled water for years and has been taking part in the Orange County Water District’s (OCWD) “Green Acres” project since 1991. The City currently uses recycled water at four large parks, two golf courses, a bike trail, several medians on arterial streets and riparian areas.

They include: Jack Hammett Sports Complex, TeWinkle Park, Fairview Park and Wetlands, Civic Center Park, the Costa Mesa Golf Courses (Los Lagos and Mesa Linda), the Joann Street Bike Trail, including Harbor Boulevard segment and medians on Harbor Boulevard, Fairview Road, and Sunflower Avenue.

Recycled water accounts for approximately 75% of the total irrigation water used by the City. Currently, there does not appear to be any plans by OCWD to expand the distribution system or add additional customers to the system. There is a limited supply of recycled water available. The City does use recycled water on new landscape installations or renovation projects whenever there is an opportunity.

Joann Street and Harbor Boulevard bike trails are an example of this, as well as the conversion of several turf medians on Harbor Boulevard to water efficient plant materials. All of these projects are connected to existing recycled water sources.

Currently, there are no plans to connect additional parks, medians, or roadway landscapes to reclaimed water sources due to limited supplies and costs.