California invests $5M in new desalination projects

California will invest $5 million in three new desalination projects in a bid to protect water resources from the effects of climate-driven weather extremes, state agencies announced on Wednesday.

“California is taking action to adapt to the extremes in weather we’re seeing across the state, reshaping our water systems to meet these new challenges and better protect our communities,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a statement.

The funds will go to projects in Los Angeles, Fresno and Mendocino counties and will support the design of three different types of facilitates that remove salts and minerals from seawater and “brackish” water — salty water located underground.

An additional six projects will receive funding by means of a partnership with the National Alliance for Water Innovation to help foster desalination research and implementation, the governor’s office stated.

“Our all-of-the-above approach includes capturing and storing more water and innovative solutions like desalination to boost supplies and prepare for a hotter, drier future,” Newsom said.

The first of the three projects to benefit from a portion of the $5 million investment is the Water Replenishment District of Southern California Construction Project in Los Angeles County.

This project involves building a conveyance pipeline to connect an existing well to an existing “desalter” system and will help reduce the community’s dependence on imported water, according to the Department of Water Resources.

The Los Angeles County project, located in the city of Torrance, will boost desalinated water production by 1,120 acre-feet per year — or approximately enough water for 2,200 households, the agency stated.

The Westlands Water District Design Pilot Project in Fresno County will desalinate brackish groundwater from a local aquifer and use salt-tolerant plants to remove salts from the brine — the hyper-saline waste product that remains following the desalination process.

The state is working to expand its brackish groundwater desalination production by 28,000 acre-feet per year by 2030 to help diversity local water resources, the governor’s office noted.

The third initiative, the City of Fort Bragg Design Pilot Project, will install a wave-powered, seawater desalination iceberg buoy to bring potable water to area residents, according to the Department of Water Resources.

“California faces a range of water supply challenges, and climate change continues to intensify shifts between weather extremes as we’ve seen this season,” Karla Nemeth, the agency’s director, said in a statement.

“The state is exploring all opportunities to invest in innovative strategies like desalination to meet our growing water needs — including treating brackish water and ocean water where it’s environmentally appropriate on our 840 miles of coastline,” Nemeth added.