Tuesday Top of the Scroll: The Monterey area may get a huge desalination plant. Is this the future of California’s water supply?
With California butting up against 840 miles of ocean, desalination seems an obvious solution to the state’s water woes. However, the cost, energy demands and environmental impacts have made the technology largely unworkable. Three years of drought may be changing the calculus. The latest push for desalination is on the Monterey Peninsula, where a plan for a plant, which has faced more than a decade of hurdles, is poised to win approval this week from the California Coastal Commission. The $300 million-plus proposal calls for pumping seawater from wells beneath Monterey Bay, near the city of Marina, and piping it ashore to the popular tourist region to help relieve a longtime water shortage… the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, which works with Cal Am to ensure water for the area, said the new supply could run as much as $7,000 per acre foot.
Related articles:
- Monterey Herald: State commission to review Cal Am’s desal proposal
- The Center Square: California Coastal Commission to weigh Monterey desal project this week
- E&E News: Parched Calif. eyes Pacific for drinking water
- CalMatters: Opinion - Could the ocean slake California’s thirst?
- KJZZ – Phoenix: What California’s next desalination plant means for the future of water in the Southwest