California awards $5 million in desalination project grants
(The Center Square) – California Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration awarded $5 million Proposition 1 desalination grants on Wednesday.
The grants will go to projects in Mendocino, Fresno, and Los Angeles counties. Additionally, six projects will get funding via a partnership with the National Alliance for Water Innovation; the partnership aims to advance desalination implementation and research.
Desalination removes salts and minerals from seawater and brackish water to produce water safe for drinking, irrigation and other uses.
California wants to expand brackish groundwater desalination production by 28,000 acre-feet per year by 2030, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“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,” Governor Newsom said in the release. “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.”
These are the three projects that will receive grant funding, according to the release:
Water Replenishment District of Southern California Construction Project: In Los Angeles County, a project in the City of Torrance will construct a conveyance pipeline to connect an existing well to the existing Goldsworthy Desalter system and install a self-cleaning auto-strainer. The project will reduce the community’s reliance on imported water, provide a sustainable local potable water supply, and increase desalinated water production by 1,120-acre feet per year, or approximately enough water for 2,200 households.
Westlands Water District Design Pilot Project: In Fresno County, the project will desalinate brackish groundwater from the westside upper aquifer and use salt-tolerant plants to remove salts from the brine. The project will provide cost-effective, reliable, and high-quality water to the district and the communities of Coalinga, Huron, and Avenal.
City of Fort Bragg Design Pilot Project: Near the City of Fort Bragg, the project will install an innovative, wave-powered seawater desalination iceberg buoy to provide potable water to residents. The project will diversify the city’s water supply portfolio, create a locally controlled, sustainable, and carbon-free potable water supply, produce water without grid electricity, and strengthen water resiliency during future droughts.
So far, DWR has awarded more than $82 million in Proposition 1 desalination grants to support 20 projects.
Three projects are under construction in Antioch, Camarillo, and Santa Monica. Additionally, three projects have been completed in Torrance, Santa Barbara, and the City of Avalon on Catalina Island. The completed projects produce 8,787 acre-feet of potable water annually, serving about 18,000 households.
DWR is also working with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) to back six projects that will, “pilot breakthrough technologies to reduce energy demand and costs for desalination projects,” according to the release.
More information on the state’s desalination projects is available here.
