The city of Antioch is doing what many Bay Area communities have only talked about: turning salt water into drinking water. The city’s new $120 million desalination plant, which began operating in September, was built to ensure that the local water supply, from the vast Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, would remain drinkable despite its rising salinity. The city now can get up to 30% of its total water from desalination. … Across California, communities are looking to firm up their water supplies in the face of myriad climate pressures, including increasing droughts and decreasing snowpack. Several water agencies are turning to desal.

Other desalination news around the West:

• Los Angeles Business Journal: $166 million expansion starts on desalter
• ABC15 (Phoenix): Desalination in Mexico among new Arizona water proposals
• Arizona Daily Star (Tucson): Arizona moves ahead with desalination, other water supply projects