Tag Archive for: Desalination

Climate Change Means Some Coastal Groundwater May Soon Be Too Salty to Drink. What Can Cities Do?

/in , , /by /WHYYby Alan Yu

Cape May, New Jersey has a long history as a resort town with seafood, ballrooms, and Victorian-era mansions, dating back to the 18th century. The idyllic, seaside town is surrounded by ocean on three sides.

But in the 1950s, the city started to have a problem with its water supply, which comes from groundwater. Saltwater was seeping into wells, making the water undrinkable. The city had to abandon its old wells and drill new ones, over and over again.

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Newly Opened Menifee Desalination Facility Will Provide Water for 15,000 Residents

/in , , /by /KVCR-FM by Jonathan Linden

Eastern Municipal Water District opened the “Perris II Desalter” facility last week, which has become the third such facility for the agency.

“This is truly a critical facility for us to be able to continue to serve our customers in a reliable and resilient fashion, especially given that we are facing historic drought conditions,” said EMWD general manager Joe Mouawad.

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In Wake of Poseidon Plants Denial South Coast Water Looks to Fill Hole in County’s Water Portfolio

/in , , /by /Dana Point Timesby Breeana Greenburg

As the State of California faces a record drought, ocean desalination has been highlighted as a potentially more reliable alternative to imported water.

Following the California Coastal Commission’s unanimous vote to deny permits for the Brookfield-Poseidon Desalination plant in Huntington Beach last month, the South Coast Water District is working to obtain all major permits for its own desalination plant near Doheny by the end of the year.

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Catalina Island Uses SoCal Edison Desalination Plant to Avoid Drought

/in , , /by /ABC 7by Jaysha Patel

If you take a boat ride to Catalina Island, you’ll notice it’s surrounded by the ocean.

“We’re about 4,000 people on a year-round basis, but we get up to a million visitors a year, and so of course that impacts a lot of our infrastructure because we have these visitors and thank God we do because we’re an entirely tourist-based community,” said Avalon Mayor Anni Marshall.

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San Diego County’s Water Supply is in a Good Spot, But it Comes at a Cost

/in , /by /10 News San Diegoby Sophia Hernandez Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Starting Wednesday, residents in much of Southern California will have to limit how much water they use. The Metropolitan Water District declared a water shortage emergency in April and took the unprecedented action of limiting outdoor watering for millions of residents in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernadino counties.

Right now, San Diego County is sitting in a really good spot. The San Diego County Water Authority has worked to diversify where our water supply comes from, like from the new water recycling plant in Santee.

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How San Diego Secured its Water Supply, at a Cost

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Suman Naishadham Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

As a worsening drought forces millions of Californians to face mandatory water restrictions, one corner of Southern California has largely shielded itself from supply-related woes: San Diego County.

For Western water planners, the path it took to get there serves either as a blueprint or a cautionary tale.

Over the past three decades, San Diego County diversified its water supply, ramped up conservation and invested in big-ticket water infrastructure including the Western hemisphere’s largest desalination plant, which removes salt and impurities from ocean water. As a result, the water agency that serves 24 water utilities including the city of San Diego says it can avoid cuts until at least 2045, even during dry periods.

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Former Southern Nevada Water Authority Chief ‘Very Worried’ About Lake Mead Level

/in , , /by /KNPRby Christopher Alvarez and Kristen DeSilva

Lake Mead, the lifeblood of the West, is at an all-time low.

And just this week, officials said it will fall by one-third of its current level by the end of 2023.

Inch by inch, the lake is falling. We’re seeing incredible images of sunken boats now visible.

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California Businesses Face Turf Watering Ban Amid Historic Drought Conditions

/in , , /by /Times of San Diego by City News Service Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The State Water Resources Control Board voted Tuesday to ban watering of non-functional turf at commercial, industrial and institutional properties, the latest in a series of steps to conserve water amid a historic drought.

The ban — which does not include turf at residences or turf used for recreation or community purposes — will be effective once approved by the Office of Administrative Law, which typically takes about 10 days, according to the board. Violations of the ban would be punishable by a fine of up to $500.

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As Bay Area Faces Prolonged Drought, Recycling and Desalination Are the Only Two Real Options

/in , , /by /San Francisco Examinerby Jessica Wolfrom Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Despite being surrounded by water, Bay Area residents are routinely told during dry years to take shorter showers, let lawns brown and slow the rush of water from their taps.

But as climate change prolongs drought and challenges local water supply, regional water managers are warning that none of those actions will be enough. Many say the time has come to invest in technically feasible, though politically and environmentally complicated alternatives like purifying wastewater and sucking salt out of seawater to bolster stores.

California’s Drought, Relentless and Inexorable, Takes its Toll

/in , , /by /California Weeklyby Will Shuck

With the rainy season come and gone, drought’s withered hand remained firmly fixed on California this month, as it has been, with few exceptions, for the last decade.

Woes pile up. Rain didn’t save us, the snowpack is all but gone, the Coastal Commission says no desalinating sea water, and urban-interface fires have already begun.

It’s almost summer in the Golden State.

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