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Desalination Plant Brings Relief To Ensenada Residents Struggling With Limited Water Supply

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Sandra Dibble

Baja California’s first utility-scale desalination plant has launched operations, supplying 5.7 million gallons a day of converted seawater to municipal water users in the port of Ensenada. The reverse-osmosis facility, which has the capacity to double in size, is seen as a critical piece of infrastructure for Ensenada, whose 390,000 residents have been almost entirely dependent on aquifers for their water supply.

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Orange County Officials Give Early Approval To Huntington Beach Desalination Plant Contract

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

Concerns over the cost and environmental impacts of desalinated water were overridden by the desire to fortify water supplies when the Orange County Water District board voted 6-2 Wednesday to approve non-binding contract terms with Poseidon, which has spent 20 years on the desalination plant proposal for Huntington Beach. The plan for the $1 billion plant and water distribution infrastructure would increase the monthly bill for the average residential customer receiving the water by an estimated $3 to $6. It would help ensure the area has water during droughts when supplies from Northern California and the Colorado River are curtailed.

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EMWD Receives $2.78M In U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Workplan

/in , /by /Lake Elisnore Patch

Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) has received a funding appropriation of $2.78 million from the United States Army Corps of Engineers through its 2018 workplan, furthering a long-term partnership that has greatly improved water supply reliability within EMWD’s service area. The funding from the Army Corps is part of its ongoing commitment to the South Perris Desalter Program, which will further expand EMWD’s groundwater desalination program through the construction of wells, pipelines and a new desalination facility. EMWD currently operates two groundwater desalination facilities, and will be breaking ground in 2019 to further expand capacity.

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Cal Am Desal Project In “Home Stretch” At CPUC

/in , /by /Monterey Heraldby Jim Johnson

More than six years after being formally proposed to the state Public Utilities Commission, California American Water’s desalination project is in crunch time. A CPUC proposed decision on the proposal is less than a month away. It will be a precursor to the commission’s consideration of project permit approval and certification of the project’s environmental impact document, likely to occur some time in September just before a critical Carmel River cutback order milestone deadline. All this as Cal Am faces a second public takeover campaign and ballot measure led by Public Water Now this summer and fall.

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If We Don’t Want To Run Out Of Water, We Should Look To The Sun

/in , /by /Popular Scienceby Jeremy Deaton

A winter of exceptionally meager snowfall has revived California’s water woes. Snowpack typically supplies the state with much of its water during the spring and summer, but this year, snow is in short supply, spurring Gov. Jerry Brown to instate permanent conservation measures. Thanks to climate change, the problem is only going to get worse, leaving officials worried about the future of water in the Golden State. Huntington Beach, a seaside Southern California city, is taking the long view, investing in a new desalination plant that will turn seawater into clean, drinkable H20.

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A Deep Dive Into Groundwater, Desalination

/in , /by /Capitol Weekly (Sacramento)by Keith Van Der Maaten

At the height of the recent drought, the legislature passed and Gov. Brown signed legislation, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), that for the first time required California water agencies to account for groundwater pumping and held them accountable for the development of sustainable plans for the future. Groundwater accounts for approximately 30% of the state’s water supply.

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LA Is Doing Water Better Than Your City. Yes, That LA

/in , /by /Wired (Boone, IA)by Matt Simon

The frantic phone calls to the Community Water Center began in the summer of 2014. In the 7,000-strong unincorporated community of East Porterville, nestled against California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, homeowners’ wells were failing amid a historic drought. Folks were hauling water from their workplaces or from agricultural wells. Parents were sending their kids to shower at the local high school. Residents with still-functional wells were snaking hoses over fences to nourish their neighbors.

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O.C. Water District Delays Vote On Huntington Beach Desalination Project’s Rate Plan

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Priscella Vega Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Orange County Water District delayed voting Wednesday on updated terms for buying water from the proposed Huntington Beach ocean desalination plant. Board members wanted more time to review the rate plan and gather additional community feedback on an updated rate sheet, which was made public Friday with the meeting agenda. Several community members, environmental activists and water district representatives raised concerns. The 10-member board voted unanimously to reconsider the proposal July 18. If approved, the non-binding, updated term sheet would shorten the length of the contract between the water district and Poseidon Water from 50 years to 30 or 35 years.

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Water District Delays Tentative Deal With Poseidon For Desalination Plant

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

Acknowledging opponents’ concerns, the Orange County Water District board on Wednesday night postponed a vote on updated terms for buying water from the desalination plant proposed for Huntington Beach by Poseidon Resources. The nonbinding term sheet, which will be considered again July 18, would revise the groundwork for an eventual contract if Poseidon gets the final two regulatory permits needed for construction and the district decides to proceed. Some 18 residents, environmental activists and representatives from other water districts leveled criticism at the project, questioning the need, the cost and the track record of Poseidon’s 2 1/2-year-old desalter plant in Carlsbad.

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Desal Project Touts No ‘Significant’ Impacts

/in , /by /Laguna Beach Independentby Allison Jarrell

Plans for an ocean desalination plant in Dana Point are moving forward with the recent release of a draft Environmental Impact Report and an upcoming public meeting to review the report’s findings, which state that if built, the project will not have any “unavoidable significant environmental impacts.” South Coast Water District, which provides water to several south-county cities and some Laguna Beach residents, released the draft report for the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project on May 23, which begins a 60-day public review period. The analysis evaluates the possible environmental impacts of producing desalinated drinking water.

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