A mere year after opening, the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant is seeing enormous success in its efforts to provide water for California in the midst of the state’s multi-year drought. Opened on Dec. 14 2015, the Carlsbad plant uses the most technologically advanced seawater desalination equipment of any plant in the nation. Pulling water from the Pacific Ocean, it met around 10 percent of San Diego County’s water demands in its first year, producing more than 15 billion gallons of fresh water.