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California Approves Desalination Plant as Historic Drought Hits Water Supplies

California regulators this week approved a $140 million desalination plant that could convert up to 5 million gallons of seawater each day into drinking water, as the state grapples with a persistent megadrought and plummeting water supplies.

The state’s Coastal Commission on Thursday voted 11-0 to approve the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project in Orange County in Southern California. The plant could be functioning within the next five years and supply water for thousands of people in the South Coast Water District.

Key Vote for Doheny Desalination Plant Coming Thursday

The California Coastal Commission is slated to vote Thursday on a crucial permit for a project that would draw ocean water through the sand off the coast of Dana Point, purify it and use it to help bolster water supplies for communities throughout Southern California.

A dozen desalination plants are permitted to turn ocean water into drinking water in California today, from as far south as Carlsbad to as far north as Monterey Bay. A year ago, three new desalination projects were pending in Southern California alone. But only one still remains viable: the Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant, which is being developed by South Coast Water District.