Pasadena-Area Projects Get Millions in Federal Earmarks for Groundwater Cleanup, Rose Bowl Repairs

Millions of dollars in federal funding will flow to Pasadena-area infrastructure under the fiscal year 2026 budget, including $3.24 million to continue cleaning up contaminated groundwater in the San Gabriel Basin and more than $1 million to replace water and wastewater pipes at the Rose Bowl Stadium that are approaching a century old, according to announcements by U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and other California lawmakers.

The projects are among more than $40 million in Congressionally Directed Spending — the formal term for federal earmarks — that Schiff’s office said it delivered for Southern California as part of $254 million secured statewide for fiscal year 2026. President Trump signed the appropriations bills into law in January and February.

In addition to the groundwater and Rose Bowl funding, the Pasadena Central Library will receive $1.7 million to install solar and energy storage systems, according to a press release from the office of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla. The city’s Jackie Robinson Community Center will get $1 million for accessibility upgrades, energy-efficient lighting, and HVAC maintenance, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Judy Chu of Pasadena. And the Altadena Community Center — described by Chu’s office as the sole remaining community center in the area after the Eaton Fire — will receive $500,000 for facility improvements and ADA upgrades. Both projects were secured by Chu.

The San Gabriel Basin allocation is the largest single earmark among the locally relevant projects. The basin, which spans more than 160 square miles across the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, is the primary drinking water source for more than 1.2 million people, according to the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority. Industrial solvents and other contaminants were first discovered in the groundwater in 1979, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated major portions of the basin as Superfund sites in 1984.

The $3.24 million will go to the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund, a federally authorized program administered by the Water Quality Authority and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, according to Padilla’s office. The money will be used to continue cleanup activities and address contamination at orphan sites where no responsible party has been identified or where the responsible party does not have the resources to do the work, the press release said.

More than $400 million had been spent on treatment facilities in the basin as of late 2023, and more than 223 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater have been treated, according to EPA records. Contaminants include volatile organic compounds from industrial solvents, perchlorate from rocket fuel manufacturing, and other chemicals.

At the Rose Bowl, the water and wastewater systems consist of transmission and distribution pipes that are nearing 100 years old and have “shown erosion and presented overall safety concerns on a daily basis,” according to a project description filed by U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman with the House Appropriations Committee. The stadium draws more than 1 million visitors a year.

Friedman, who represents a portion of Pasadena, had requested $3.5 million for the project but told the Pasadena City Council that the final amount was “over a million dollars for the Rose Bowl water and wastewater system replacement,” according to her office.

“These investments will advance public safety, modernize infrastructure and community services, and improve transportation throughout our region,” Chu said in a statement when the funding bills passed the House. “This funding will be especially critical as we continue to recover and rebuild from the Eaton Fire.”

Padilla said the investments would “help address water quality challenges, strengthen public safety and emergency response efforts, improve affordable housing options, and support critical workforce development initiatives,” according to a press release from his office.

The appropriations were spread across two legislative packages. H.R. 6938, a three-bill package that included the Energy and Water and Interior and Environment bills — containing the San Gabriel Basin and Rose Bowl projects — passed the House 397-28 in January and was signed into law later that month. H.R. 7148, which contained the community center and transportation projects, passed 341-88 on January 22, 2026, and was signed by President Trump on February 3, 2026.

Chu also secured $1,031,000 in a separate appropriations bill for Pasadena’s regional public safety communications system, which will modernize radio and repeater technology for first responders, her office said.

The earmarks are part of a broader return of Congressionally Directed Spending to the federal budget. The FY2026 budget contains approximately $15.8 billion in earmarks for 8,475 projects nationwide, according to published reports.

“I am proud to have secured $6,247,000 in Community Project Funding in this bill to support projects across my district, from Altadena to Upland,” Chu said of one of the funding packages. “These investments will strengthen public safety, improve public health, and modernize critical infrastructure as we recover from the Eaton Fire.”