Tag Archive for: Desalination

The Fresh Water Crisis And Desalination Plants

/in , /by /Interesting Engineeringby Marcia Wendorf

Global warming is causing increased droughts throughout the world, and this has brought some areas to the brink of a water crisis. February 2, 2018, was supposed to be “Day Zero” for Cape Town, South Africa, the day on which the city was set to run out of water. That date was subsequently reset to July 15, 2018, after area fruit growers used up their allotment of water, and through conservation measures. For many areas, overdevelopment, population growth, and climate change have upset the balance between water usage and supply, and areas from North America to South America, and from Australia to Asia, are increasingly facing threats of drinking-water shortages.

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Poseidon Optimism Grows For Desalination Plant But Several Hurdles Remain

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

Poseidon officials, who’ve spent 21 years working toward approval of a controversial desalination plant in Huntington Beach, had a figurative bounce in their step as they emerged from yet another permitting agency meeting Friday. The Regional Water Quality Control Board remains months away from voting on one of the final two permits needed by Poseidon. But the fact the board staff detailed a specific timeline for the board’s permit process — with a final vote penciled in for Oct. 25 — was seen by Poseidon Vice President Scott Maloni interpreted that as a signal that board geologists, engineers and administrators are confident they can work through outstanding issues.

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California Touts Desalination, But Take It With A Grain Of Salt

/in , /by /Bloomberg Environmentby Emily C. Dooley

Slimming down a $17 billion plan to shunt water from Northern California to the arid south has the state considering ways to supplement water needs. Desalination is one of the methods getting some attention. California has a water problem, drought or no drought. The new administration has signaled a shift in water policy by specifically talking about turning salty water potable after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he would support only a single tunnel as part of the project known as WaterFix, rather than the two tunnels his predecessor pushed for to bring water to the state’s southern half.

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County Water Authority Refinances Bonds For Savings Of $18 Million

/in , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie L. Sklar

The San Diego County Water Authority announced Wednesday that it has saved nearly $18 million in debt payments by refinancing the bonds used to construct part of the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. The savings topped prior projections of $13.6 million through June 2046, according to the Water Authority. A total of 45 investors, including J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Goldman Sachs, made nearly $2 billion in orders for the bonds. Investors were attracted to the water authority’s strong credit and history of providing a reliable water supply, according to the agency.

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‘Dude, Where’s My Water,’ Montecito Asks

/in , /by /Santa Barbara Independentby Nick Welsh

Even with last week’s rains increasing Lake Cachuma elevations by more than five feet, the available supply for South Coast water agencies has remained the same. Under the complex legal arithmetic by which Cachuma is divvied up, all the additional water accrues to agencies downstream; that will remain the case until there’s enough runoff in the Santa Ynez River to generate a live stream.

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Intake, Discharge Criteria To Be Revised

/in , /by /Global Water Intelligence

California’s Water Code gives the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) the responsibility of protecting its ocean water quality by controlling waste discharges and the intake of seawater. It also requires that the California Ocean Plan be reviewed every three years to guarantee that the current standards are adequate and not allowing marine species degradation or posing a public health threat. The plan was last amended to address desalination facility intakes and brine discharges in May 2015, and went into effect in January 2016.

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OPINION: Choose Desalination Over Water Tunnels

/in , /by /Ventura County Reporterby John P. MacHarg and Ted Kuepper

There is a connection between the proposed $20 billion Sacramento Delta Water Tunnels, the proposed mining/pumping of water from the Mojave Desert, Central Valley farmers lacking the water resources to maximize food production, and the Sacramento River and fishing stocks suffering from inadequate water flows. That connection is the State Water Project (SWP), which pumps water to Southern California and reduces the river water needed for fisheries, farmers, and the Sacramento River, itself.

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Poseidon Prevails In Desalination Lawsuit

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

A lawsuit seeking a new environmental report for the controversial Poseidon desalination plant proposed for Huntington Beach was rejected by a Sacramento Superior Court judge on Tuesday. Three environmental groups had filed the suit, arguing that the plant’s 2010 Environmental Impact Report needed to be entirely done over because of subsequent changes to the proposal. In its 2017 approval of the project, the State Lands Commission determined that Poseidon needed only to complete a supplemental report addressing the changes to the project, which proponents champion as a drought-proof source of local drinking water.

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Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant Celebrates Three Years, 40 Billion Gallons Of Water

/in , , /by /California Water News Daily Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

It was just three years ago that the nation’s largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient desalination plant came on line in Carlsbad. The plant provides San Diego County with more than 50 million gallons of high-quality, locally controlled, water every day. It is a foundational water supply for the county that helps to minimizes the region’s vulnerability to drought or other water supply emergencies.

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Orange County Water Study Updated, Poseidon Desalination Plant Still Scores Low

/in , /by /Orange County Registerby Martin Wisckol

South Orange County is far more at risk for future water shortages than the rest of the county, according to the final draft of a water-needs forecast received Wednesday by the Municipal Water District of Orange County’s board. The Poseidon desalination plant planned for Huntington Beach continues to rank lowest in cost effectiveness, with questions also raised about the need for the $1 billion project. The 261-page report updates MWDOC’s 2016 forecast, reflecting the increased likelihood that the California WaterFix tunnels will improve the reliability of flows imported from northern California.

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