Lee Lake WD WWTP - Temescal Valley, California Wastewater Treatment Plant

Lee Lake WD WWTP is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located in Temescal Valley, Riverside County, California. The plant serves a population of about 15,344 residents, providing essential wastewater treatment for the community. As part of the Lee Lake Water District, the facility plays a key role in managing local wastewater and protecting public health. The plant has a designed capacity of 1.00 million gallons per day. Under the US Clean Water Act and California's Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, treatment plants of this scale are typically required to meet secondary treatment standards, with additional nutrient removal if discharging to sensitive water bodies. The facility operates under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the California State Water Resources Control Board, which sets effluent limits to protect water quality. The treated effluent from Lee Lake WD WWTP is discharged to local waterways that ultimately drain into the Santa Ana River watershed. The Santa Ana River flows through Riverside and Orange Counties before reaching the Pacific Ocean at Huntington Beach. This watershed supports diverse aquatic life and provides water for agriculture, recreation, and municipal use. Proper treatment at this plant helps reduce nutrient loading and protect downstream ecosystems.

The plant discharges into the Santa Ana River watershed, which flows approximately 100 miles through Southern California to the Pacific Ocean. The river supports critical habitat for endangered species such as the Santa Ana sucker fish and provides water for millions of residents. Downstream, the river mouth at Huntington Beach is an important coastal ecosystem, and the plant's treatment helps control nutrient pollution that could otherwise contribute to algal blooms and hypoxia in the coastal zone.