Desalination Expansion to Provide California's Catalina Island with Drought Relief

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With drought in California in its fourth year, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in January and imposed strict water conservation measures. Several seawater desalination projects are under way to help thirsty cities in the Golden State cope with the shortage.

Drought has even reached the rocky shores of Santa Catalina Island, where Southern California Edison (NYSE:SCE-E) (SoCal Ed) (Rosemead, California) and the city of Avalon have partnered to expand the island's desalination plant to avert 50% water rationing.

SoCal Ed's Pebbly Beach desalination plant has been in operation since the 1990s, and produces 200,000 gallons of fresh water per day. A new desalination unit, which will be connected to the existing facility, will be able to produce an additional 150,000 gallons of water per day.

The estimated $500,000 unit, provided by GE Power & Water (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut), has been delivered to the island and is being installed; it is expected to reach operational status by mid-September. The expansion is expected to give the island enough relief to make it through until the rainy season without the imposition of more stringent rationing measures.

Some 60 miles east of Catalina, another desalination project is expected to bring mainland California much-needed relief in the way of a $1 billion desalination plant, which will be the largest such facility ever constructed in the U.S.

Poseidon Resources Corporation LLC (Boston, Massachusetts) is nearing completion of the Carlsbad plant, which will produce 50 million gallons per day of fresh water when it goes into operation later this fall. The bulk of the plant equipment work and pipeline installation has been completed, and only outside walls, landscaping and parking areas remain to be done.

Other municipalities in California are closely watching the Carlsbad project to gauge how to proceed with their own plans to secure future water supply.

More than $2 billion worth of desalination projects are being proposed for the state. These include Sweetwater Authority Chula Vista plant expansion; California American Water in Moss Landing; West Basin Municipal Water District in Rodondo Beach; Pajaro/Sunny Mesa Community Services in Moss Landing; the city of Santa Cruz; the city of Oceanside; the city of Camarillo; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in Laguna Beach; East Bay Municipal Utility District in Pittsburg and the Orange County Water District.

There also is new technology being developed further inland for the drought-stricken San Joaquin Valley in Fresno County. Start-up company WaterFX Incorporated (Healdsburg, California) is partnering with the Panoche Water and Drainage District on a revolutionary concept to build a plant that utilizes solar energy to convert agricultural drainage water into freshwater.

Earlier this month, California's state legislature introduced "The California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2015," which is aimed at aimed at helping parched California communities and supporting new water projects.

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