The November edition of Journal AWWA (American Water Works Association) features a San Diego County Water Authority employee’s thoughts on a larger discussion about what the world of water could look like in 2050. In a piece titled “Addressing the Global Water Crisis With Membrane Technology”, Water Authority Principal Engineer Silvana Ghiu and her co-authors expanded on the vital importance of membrane technology for a hotter and dryer planet.
“The United Nations’ World Water Development Report 2023: Partnerships and Cooperation for Water estimates that the urban population facing water scarcity will increase from 933 million in 2016 to between 1.7 and 2.4 billion by 2050, representing one-third to one-half of the global urban population,” the article’s authors highlighted.
What can be done to fight against this global emergency?
The November edition of Journal AWWA
“After decades of advancements and innovation, membrane technology has evolved into an essential tool that can harness unconventional water sources to provide safe, sustainable drinking water.”
San Diego County residents don’t have to go far to see this technology in action. In fact, it’s being used right here in Carlsbad.
“In California, drought is intrinsic to the natural climate, and the need for local, reliable water supplies led to the 2015 construction of the Claude ‘Bud’ Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, with a capacity of 50 mgd (million gallons per day).”
From desalination along the coast to using membrane technology to treat brackish water in the interior, along with future advancements that could create even more opportunities for reliability, this technology is clearly here to stay.
“Membrane technology could be present in some capacity in nearly every new water plant built by the middle of this century,” writes Ghiu and her co-authors. In San Diego that future is already here as the Water Authority continues to build a reliable regional water supply for a changing climate. To read more, click here.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/DeSalPlant.12.19.16x022-845X450-1.jpg450845Jordan Beanehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngJordan Beane2024-10-21 13:55:332024-10-22 09:54:26Membrane Tech Important Piece of Water Future
Chronic water scarcity in California is indeed the new normal, but it’s not because of climate change. Even if the state is destined to experience lengthier droughts and reduced snowpack, most scenarios also forecast an abundance of years when the state is inundated with a series of so-called atmospheric rivers. That diluvian scenario was experienced by Californians this past winter, and even more so in the winter of 2022–23. Yet water remains scarce.
Water is critical to California’s economic development, supporting environmental preservation as well as extensive agricultural, industrial, and recreational activities. The high demand for water, particularly in the hot summer months when prolonged droughts and water shortages are common, is fueling growing conflict between different user groups and regions over water availability.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Kylie Capuanohttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngKylie Capuano2024-06-28 08:10:562024-06-28 08:10:56California’s Water Innovation: Technologies Driving Sustainability in the Golden State
Hundreds of miles away and nearly 7,000 feet up in the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, the most recent snow survey delivers good news: The state’s snowpack is at 110% of normal, a good sign for the water supply.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Maddie Simmonshttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMaddie Simmons2024-04-04 08:48:352024-04-04 08:48:35Report: State Snowpack Levels Above Normal
California has more than 1,000 thousand miles of coastline and the water in the Pacific Ocean presents an opportunity for more fresh water in the state. Unlocking the opportunity takes time, money and resources, and some experts say it’s not for everyone.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Maddie Simmonshttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMaddie Simmons2024-04-04 08:44:522024-04-04 08:44:52Inside California’s Effort to Use Ocean Water as a Future Water Source
South Orange County is heavily reliant on imported water, with the price of that water continuing to rise. Without readily available water to help the area through emergency situations, water districts serving South Orange County residents such as South Coast Water District and Moulton Niguel Water District are looking to diversify their water supplies with ocean water desalination and direct potable reuse.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Maddie Simmonshttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMaddie Simmons2024-03-25 08:31:362024-03-25 08:31:36South County Looks to Diversify Water Portfolio with Desalination, Direct Potable Reuse
From Ancient Greek sailors boiling seawater to Romans using clay pipes to filter salt, making saltwater drinkable through desalination has a long history. But modern forms of this millennia-old technology are now the “present and future of coping with water scarcity,” said Manzoor Qadir, deputy director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Maddie Simmonshttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMaddie Simmons2024-03-22 08:38:132024-03-22 08:38:13Desalination — Can It Help Us Survive Water Scarcity?
California water agencies including the San Diego County Water Authority are exploring ways to better manage sporadic periods of abundant rainfall — part of a larger effort to meet the ever-changing realities they face logistically and economically.
Water Authority General Manager Dan Denham recently discussed the evolution of regional water management on the Southern California Water Dialogue. The Water Dialogues are a monthly forum exploring water-related issues of regional interest.
The backdrop for the discussion is what many call “climate whiplash” — for instance, when three years of record drought from 2020 to 2022 were followed by abnormally high rainfall in 2023. In the future, California could experience shorter but more extreme wet seasons between periods of drought.
View the webinar here.
Creative portfolio approach to water management
At the Water Authority — the agency responsible for long-term water planning in San Diego County — Denham said the lack of regular rainfall and little access to groundwater has forced the Water Authority to be more creative than most water agencies in securing a safe, reliable water supply.
“We embarked upon a 20-to-30-year process to diversify the Water Authority’s supply portfolio. Our board directed a portfolio approach to ensure that we had not only sufficient supplies but also made significant investments in infrastructure,” explained Denham.
“We’ve adopted cutting-edge conservation and techniques. We’ve sponsored legislation at the state level. And we’re at the forefront of many water use efficiency programs,” said Denham.
With those investments and actions as the foundation, the time is right to set a vision for the coming decades. “The future of water in Southern California — of course, reuse is going to be a big component of it — but I do believe a lot of it is going to be sharing resources and developing partnerships,” Denham said.
Advancing long-term water-sharing partnerships
Signing the historic agreement: Top (L to R): Mel Katz, chair SDCWA Board; Jim Madaffer, Vice Chair Colorado River Board of CA and SDCWA Board member; Gloria Cordero, MWD’s representative to the Colorado River Board; Adan Ortega, chair MWD Board; J.B. Hamby, Chair Colorado River Board of CA. Bottom (L To R): Dan Denham, SDCWA General Manager; Camille Touton, Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Adel Hagekhalil, MWD General Manager; Jamie Asbury, Imperial Irrigation District General Manager. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Denham said investing in a long-term partnership with the Imperial Irrigation District in a water conservation agreement has proved key. “Those types of partnerships have continued and had been successful over the past 20 years,” said Denham.
“This is what our diversification looks like. This is 25 years’ worth of investment in resiliency, transitioning us from an imported water agency with one source of supply to where we’re at today with a really diverse resource mix,” said Denham.
Denham says in addition to maximizing reuse, sharing resources and developing partnerships to share those resources will become vital. The Water Authority signed a landmark agreement with the Metropolitan Water District and the Imperial Irrigation District in late 2023.
“What we were able to do was take advantage of those high runoff years in Northern California, bringing that State Water Project water down to San Diego and leaving some of our Colorado River conserved water in Lake Mead – 50,000-acre feet – which raised the reservoir by six inches. It could not have been done without the partnership that we have in relationships developed over time with the Metropolitan Water District and the Imperial Irrigation District. I look towards more of this to the future,” said Denham.
Flexibility to optimize water resources
In October 2003, the San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, State of California and U.S. Department of the Interior completed a historic set of agreements to conserve and transfer Colorado River water.
While planning for drought is necessary, it’s also necessary to devise a plan flexible enough to take advantage of high-runoff years.
“What do you do in those high runoff years, in those years of abundance? Some of that speaks to storage,” explained Denham. “The Water Authority has increased its largest surface water storage reservoir. It’s doubled in size. But the Water Authority — like others in the Metropolitan Water District service area in California, is realizing that those surface water storage reservoirs are pretty full.
“What does that speak to next? Flexibility, and the sharing of resources. If our reservoirs are full, or we don’t have the demands for the investments that we’ve made, whether it’s in the Colorado River supplies or the Carlsbad desalination plant, perhaps there’s another partner in Southern California or in the Lower Colorado River Basin that we can exchange supplies with.
“What I mean by that is we do have supplies that can be managed in a different way,” said Denham.
Established in 1998, the Water Dialogue explores the common interests among Southern California water agencies, environmental organizations, and public interest organizations, and serves as a clearinghouse and advocate for projects, activities, and processes that will improve the quality and reliability of Southern California’s water supply.
The Water Dialogue represents members including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Southern California Watershed Alliance, Sierra Club, West Basin Municipal Water District, Central Basin Municipal Water District, Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Irvine Ranch Water District, Trabuco Canyon Water District, Southern California Water Coalition, Atwater Consulting Group, Jacobs and Caltech/JPL/NASA.
In the latest episode of Dropping By from Stormwater Solutions, Joe Mouawad, general manager of the Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) talks about EMWD’s emphasis on groundwater desalination.
As the world grapples with rising water use and climate-fueled drought, countries from the United States to Israel to Australia are building huge desalination plants to bolster their water supplies. These plants can create water for thousands of households by extracting the salt from ocean water, but they have also drawn harsh criticism from many environmental groups:
