Record temperatures and drought conditions have forced California to address the State’s dwindling water supplies. Could desalination plants be a viable solution for the future?
California’s farm fields have lay dormant, and Lake Mead water levels once sunk so low that Hoover Dam struggled to generate power. Toxic dust continues to blow off the dried-up Salton Sea creating noxious air and imperiling local residents, and the San Joaquin Valley faces bouts of water insecurity.
California has a water challenge. Though recent rainfall has coined the household name “atmospheric river”, California has been starved of rain in recent years. Perpetual drought has forced the state to resort to water rationing, raised the specter of ecological disaster, and imperiled the economic vitality of the region.
“California’s lakes are drying out, demand for water has increased, and the dire needs for water will need to be met in more novel ways' ', describes Megan Hyatt, a fellow at Stanford University whose research centers around regional water quality and security. Hyatt understands what the State is up against in terms of water, referring to the effects climate change is having on supply and erratic weather patterns.
“Desalination has been an important backstop for ensuring the people of California can get water, and we are seeing this technology only getting better”.
One such desalination plant has stood out among the rest. The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has served San Diego County with over 100 billion gallons of water over the past seven years - a milestone reached in late August.
The plant, which produces 50 million gallons of drinking water daily, enough for 400,000 homes and meeting 10% of San Diego County’s water demand, is the largest in the United States. The plant is owned and operated by a company named Poseidon Water, and is the largest facility in the Western hemisphere.
Desalination plants have been functioning in California for decades. 12 existing facilities throughout the State have been tapping into the Pacific Ocean’s endless reservoir to make drinking water and diversify water supply. The process removes salt, minerals, and other impurities from seawater by pushing it through a filter, leaving behind fresh water. With more than a thousand miles of coastline, California appears to have this wellspring advantage of access to the ocean that other arid states lack.
While desalination is not a new technology, it is plagued with a history of controversy in California. Many coastal communities recognize the promise of desalination during times of drought, but have been dissuaded by its cost, usage of taxpayer revenue, and environmental impact. The high-pressure intake of seawater threatens ocean life, and the output of brine - a highly concentrated salt solution - endangers coastal environments.
Between the environmental headaches and the cost of engineering workarounds, critics argued the technology is often more trouble than it’s worth.
It is no wonder, then, that the California’s Coastal Commission unanimous approval of Poseidon Waters long-running campaign for a new desalination plant in Orange County in October made quite a splash. The plant could be functioning within the next five years and supply water for thousands of people in the South Coast Water District, which covers populous areas from Dana Point down to Laguna Beach.
State regulators have been embroiled in controversy around its construction for years.
“This [was] a really, really tough decision. There’s no doubt about it,” said Donne Brownsey, the commission chair, who voted in favor of the permit. She added: “It’s like a collision of so many complicated things… it’s a region with really challenging water issues.”
In a report endorsing the project, which has been under development for a decade, the commission’s staff acknowledged the facility’s construction raises “extremely difficult and complex coastal resource issues.”
On the other side of the debate, representatives have argued that the smaller Doheny plant will have an environmental design that better addresses potential damage to marine life. Poseidon Water officials and others who support the project note that desalination – which is common in the Middle East and North Africa – is drought-proof. That argument has drawn supporters, particularly as California and much of the western region suffer through its most arid long-term period in hundreds of years.
As climate change continues to impact the state and water becomes more scarce, the prospect of having the ability to supply communities with water via desalination is encouraging. Continuing to build out desalination infrastructure can reduce California’s dependence on imported water sources, and gradually move the needle on public consciousness towards being more accepting of desalination as a safeguard towards water security.
“I encourage people to take a ‘bird eye view’ of how strained the water system in California really is” says Hyatt, when asked to consider the outlook of desal adoption in the region,
“The reality is brutal. But, California has the power and resources to be a trailblazer in making this technology far more environmentally sustainable than it is now and allow it to scale”, she exclaims with optimism.
“It will be an important tool, and here’s no question that meeting California’s water needs will require all the tools in the toolbox”.
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Savannah Ardrey is a Masters student at Stanford in the Earth Systems program and earned her B.S. in Symbolic Systems. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia between the ocean and the mountains instilled a wonder for the Earth and the stillness of landscapes. She hopes to apply her experience in identifying & creating value in the corporate world to shape how humans perceive, value, and protect nature. When she’s not volunteering at the farm, you can find her on the Stanford Dish hike or identifying the fruit trees on campus.
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