CityStories / City Profiles / Medium Cities / Ontario, California
Population: 158,007
- Recycled water system
- Waste prevention
- Mandatory construction waste recycling
- City of Ontario, CA Official Website
Photo Credit: Nataraj Metz/Flickr
Ontario, California
In order to preserve potable water for drinking, the City of Ontario is actively pushing higher use of recycled water.
Currently, existing customers of the city's recycled water system include Kaiser Permanente, Target, Westwind Park, Whispering Lakes Golf Course and agricultural farms, and soon will include Kohl’s, CalTrans and others. The standards for recycled water quality are set by the California Department of Health.
California has a legislatively imposed mandate of 50 percent diversion of waste from landfill to recycling, and in 2008 the state reached an unprecedented diversion rate of 58 percent. Eight out of the top ten Smarter Cities recycling list are in California. Because construction and demolition contribute to a large portion of waste, the City of Ontario has guidelines for those applying for building permits to recycle at least 50 percent of the waste, based on this state law.
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Porous Paving
The EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System site provides information about applicability, siting and design criteria.
Georgia's Department of Community Affairs has a page on best practices for porous paving.
Portland, Oregon's Bureau of Environmental Service pervious paving projects page.
City of Chicago's permeable paving site with many local examples.
San Francisco Parks Trust permeable landscape page.
Environmental Health Perspectives provides a good overview in "Paving Paradise: The Peril of Impermeable Surfaces."
NRDC's report Stormwater Strategies: Community Responses to Runoff Pollution considers a variety of responses implemented across the country.
Water Conservation
US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation: with a mission to "manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public" the bureau provides information about water levels in reservoirs throughout the West, updates on dams, powerplants and related projects and a library of water reclamation materials.
Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART program: Information on WaterSMART grants for water and energy conservation projects, basin studies with integrated management plans and water supply reviews and details on the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives in the Southwest.
In Hot Water: Water Management Strategies to Weather the Effects of Global Warming (NRDC report)
Water Efficiency Saves Energy (NRDC report)
Las Vegas Water District conservation pages
Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNVA) conservation and rebates
Learn More
Switchboard: Green City Rankings: California Cleans Up!
Minute, Morning, Month: Apply these water-saving measures in your yard or garden.
Minute, Morning, Month: Save water and reduce runoff. Install permeable pavement.
Ask Us: How Can I Recycle Plastic Packaging?
E-waste: Saving Developing Countries From Our Electronic Junk
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