Harvest Water Recycled Water Program

When complete, Harvest Water will supply up to 50,000 acre-feet—roughly 16 billion gallons—of drought-resistant recycled water each year and bring other lasting benefits to the region. The project will also establish sandhill crane habitat, protect and enhance vernal pool habitat, provide a longer migration window for fall-run Chinook salmon as a result of increased flow volume in the Cosumnes River, and improves groundwater conditions and water quality—sustaining 5,000 acres of wetlands and riparian forests.

ESA has contributed comprehensive environmental and regulatory support to the project, including construction compliance monitoring, cultural resources oversight, CEQA-related services, permitting assistance and agency coordination, development of a Giant Garter Snake relocation plan, and detailed botanical surveys.

ESA partnered with Harvest Water to implement standardized mobile data collection forms, enabling field biologists to document compliance issues and biological resources during construction activities. The team utilized GPS-enabled tablets to capture geotagged photos, and recorded detailed data on construction progress, species presence, and habitat conditions. These forms included built-in quality assurance checks to minimize entry errors, along with automatic time stamping, to ensure accurate and reliable compliance audit trails. The collected data was used to produce customized compliance reports for agency review and broader communication, enabling the team to monitor progress, address compliance concerns, and effectively coordinate fieldwork.