After enduring six years of government permitting and winning 14 lawsuits and appeals, a $1 billion desalination plant is under construction in Carlsbad, Calif. The plant is expected to open next year.
Drought conditions in the Golden State are forcing the move to the much more expensive desalinated water. In San Diego County, which has agreed to buy all of the water the plant produces, water bills are expected to jump $5-7 a month, to cover its costs.
The plant, which will suck in 100 million gallons of Pacific Ocean water every day, will provide about 7 percent of the county’s water supply when it produces 50 million gallons a day of drinking water.
Until now, the costs of desalinating water have been considered too expensive, but as Sandy Kerl of the San Diego Water Authority puts it ‘"if you turn on your faucet and no water comes out," it’s not too expensive.
At least two other desalination plants are in the planning stages in California.