thriving Big Bear Valley

Water reuse, also known as water recycling, is the process of intentionally capturing wastewater, stormwater, saltwater, or gray water and cleaning it as needed for a designated beneficial freshwater use such as surface or groundwater replenishment, watershed restoration, drinking, and irrigation. We refer to this new water resource as recycled water. Today’s advanced water treatment technology allows communities to produce recycled water more pure than bottled water that exceeds stringent state and federal water quality standards.

Big Bear Valley’s remote location limits access to new water resources. Our only source of water enters as precipitation, then flows into the lake or soaks into the ground to become groundwater. Capturing this water after it is used and producing high quality, advanced treated recycled water is the only reliable, cost-effective source for additional water supplies.

​​

Many southern California communities rely on imported water from northern California through the State Water Project as a supplemental supply. However, imported water is not readily available in Big Bear due to the Valley’s high elevation and isolated location. The nearest imported water pipeline is in the Lucerne Valley and the water would have to be pumped nearly 4,000 feet vertically up to Big Bear. Previous evaluations showed that the cost of obtaining imported water would be approximately 2.5 times higher than the cost of producing recycled water through Replenish Big Bear. Also, imported water is not a local, reliable, drought-resilient supply and supplies can be greatly reduced in times of drought when we need water most.

Currently, our wastewater is treated to the minimum level required for agricultural irrigation, and all our recycled water is piped out of the Big Bear Valley for reuse or disposal in Lucerne Valley. The current level of treatment is not suitable for any of our water needs in the Big Bear Valley and we are essentially losing this vital water resource until investments are made to enable more advanced treatment of this water source for reuse in our community. Replenish Big Bear will recover over 700 million gallons of water each year for Big Bear Valley.

All wastewater produced in the Big Bear Valley is treated to a secondary effluent level at the existing BBARWA wastewater treatment plant and sent to Lucerne Valley. More information about our current treatment process can be found on the BBARWA website.

There are several current and opportunities for community members to get involved in the Program.

• Sign up for updates by subscribing to our mailing list at the bottom of our website.

• Attend one of the public meetings which you can find at https://www.bbarwa.org/meetings.

• Follow the Program and partner agencies on our YouTube channel, Facebook page and Instagram to stay informed about updates and future events and to share information with your connections.

Even if the Replenish Big Bear Program is not constructed, regulations are continuously evolving and becoming more stringent so we expect that future wastewater disposal regulations will force BBARWA to construct new treatment and disposal facilities to meet those requirements. Regulatory agencies have indicated that we should expect additional treatment requirements for the current wastewater disposal process in Lucerne Valley. A project like this could cost approximately $60-80M (2025 USD) without any added benefit to the Big Bear Valley.

BBARWA has a permit that allows all their treated wastewater to be discharged to Lucerne Valley. This permit does not have an expiration date but is reviewed by the regulators at least every 5 years and can be modified at any time to require additional treatment or monitoring. It is anticipated that the regulators will ultimately modify BBARWA’s permit to require a higher level of treatment to continue discharging to Lucerne Valley, but the timing or requirements of such a change is not known at this time. Click to read EIR.

To comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared for the Program in the next phase of work. The PEIR/EIS will include an evaluation of any potential impacts that the Program could have on fish and wildlife as well as mitigation measures to reduce significant impacts, if any are identified.​​

​

The Program Team will also work closely with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to complete testing and studies needed to demonstrate that the program water will not have an adverse effect on the endangered stickleback species in Shay Pond (future option).

​​​

Program water is used to sustain and enhance sensitive wildlife habitats and ecosystems in many places throughout California and the world. It has been demonstrated to be safe even with less treatment than will be provided by Replenish Big Bear.

No, the Replenish Big Bear treatment process will not add to the odor sources from the existing treatment process.

The new facility will be constructed within the existing treatment plant footprint where decommissioned equalization basins will be repurposed for new facility construction.

The BBARWA Governing Board considered several options for placing the Program on the ballot. In 2021, the BBARWA Governing Board considered four options: Existing Fee Authority, Benefit Assessment, Community Facilities District (CFD/Mello-Roos Tax), and a Special Parcel Tax — and ultimately directed staff to continue under the existing fee structure. In April 2024, the BBARWA Governing Board revisited those options and also considered a public opinion poll. These options carried significant challenges, including limited voter eligibility, since many property owners are registered to vote at their primary residences outside of the Big Bear Valley. Again, the BBARWA Governing Board directed staff to continue under the existing fee structure. Please see the Voting Options Presentation.

The Replenish Big Bear Program is designed to recharge approx. 380-acre feet (or XX gallons) per year in the Sand Canyon Recharge area, with an additional 120-acre feet (or XX gallons) per year of in-lieu recharge through irrigation of the Golf Course with Program Water. There are opportunities for additional groundwater recharge; however, any expansion would require the responsible water agency to identify a suitable location(s), evaluate site-specific conditions, and ensure compatibility with existing infrastructure and environmental requirements.

Yes. All regulatory permit requirements will be met with the treatment process outlined in the Preliminary Design Report.

Yes. During high-flows or maintenance periods, water will continue to be sent to Lucerne Valley.

The Preliminary Design Report provides an updated estimate of the Project cost. This estimate does not account for Build America, Buy America requirements, as the U.S. EPA guidance is not fully determined, or for potential tariff impacts, which are subject to constant change. The estimated annual operations and maintenance costs do not include debt service; however, debt service would be included in an updated Funding and Financing Plan, which would incorporate loan terms based on the updated cost estimate. At this time, there are no plans to develop a Funding and Financing Plan.

On August 27, 2025, the motion to approve the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) did not pass. Without construction funding in place, the Project cannot proceed to the bidding phase; however, the final design can be completed, which represents the current stage of the Project (as of October 2025).

Yes. BBARWA has been awarded $26,942,993 in state and federal grants. (Note: the most recent grant table can be found here.

BBARWA’s current sewer user fees can be found on its website. A portion of these fees are to fund the Project debt service and required reserves. Debt service includes interest only on the current bridge loan and future Project funding, such as the WIFIA Loan. There was no rate increase for the Project in BBARWA’s adopted rate schedule for Fiscal Year 2026.

Yes, there were several alternative locations evaluated, including Van Dusen Canyon and the Greenspot area in Erwin Lake. Ultimately, the Program Partners moved forward with the Big Bear Lake option due to its proximity to existing infrastructure to pump the water into Sand Canyon, the chosen groundwater replenishment location. There is no other location in the Big Bear Valley that would be able to accommodate 2.2 million gallons per day.