Top: Monterey One Water’s anaerobic digestion and wastewater treatment plant complex. Photo courtesy of Monterey One Water

The U.S. EPA awarded grants to two organizations in California — Monterey One Water and the Yurok Tribe — to divert food waste from landfills by expanding anaerobic digester (AD) capacity. Monterey One Water, located in Monterey, is using its $169,000 grant to evaluate the conversion of anaerobic digesters at its wastewater treatment facility to equip them to codigest biosolids with food and other organic wastes. “Completion of this study and implementation of codigestion will be key in helping Monterey One Water and our project partner, ReGen Monterey, adapt to the changing climate and enhance the services we provide the community,” said Paul A. Sciuto, Monterey One Water General Manager. “Using this EPA funding, we hope to be a model for cross-sector collaboration as we work together to meet California’s requirements to divert organics from landfills and increase our renewable energy production to help secure the power needs our essential, 24/7 operations require.”

The Yurok Tribe in Klamath is using its $200,000 grant to divert food waste generated on and near the Yurok Indian Reservation from a landfill by establishing a pilot AD facility and supporting food sovereignty by using digestate and biogas for food production at the Klamath Food Village. “The grant progresses the Tribe’s mission of a sovereign food system and helps to ensure that every Yurok Tribal member has access to sufficient food to meet their nutritional and cultural needs in order to thrive, with food that is provided and procured in culturally and environmentally responsible ways,” said Louisa McCovey, Environmental Director of the Yurok Tribe Environmental Department.