The cost of desalinated water in San Diego is about to dramatically increase, as Poseidon scrambles to meet state environmental regulations for protecting fish and other marine life at its Carlsbad facility. An ongoing overhaul of the Claude “Bud” Lewis plant’s intake system is estimated to cost roughly $274 million, regional water officials announced Thursday.
The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has served more than 100 billion gallons of high-quality, locally controlled water over the past seven years – a milestone passed in late October, as California entered a fourth consecutive year of severe drought.
The port city of Tianjin is in desperate need of water. The surface and groundwater supplies of this sprawling northeast Chinese metropolis have shrunk to dangerously low levels due to decades of reduced rainfall and overexploitation of the Hai River that flows through the city. According to the Tianjin Environmental Protection Bureau, the city’s per capita water resources are one-twentieth of China’s national average, far below the UN benchmark for a water-stressed region.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
