Key Focus Areas
Developing a diverse water portfolio is the strategy Governor Newsom is seeking through his Water Resilience Portfolio Initiative to address California’s water supply challenges, including droughts, floods, rising temperatures, declining fish populations and aging infrastructure. Desalination is an important component of the State’s proposed portfolio.
Water Supply Challenges
Despite California’s excellent water management, continuing to reliably meet the state’s growing demand for water is an ever-increasing challenge without the addition of new local water supplies like desalination.
Seawater Desalination
Seawater desalination transforms ocean water into drinking water. With its 800+ miles of coastline, many communities in California are uniquely positioned to benefit from seawater desalination to enhance local water reliability and augment imported supplies. Desalination provides a local, reliable, and sustainable water supply that communities can rely on now and for decades to come, enabling California to continue meeting its growing water needs.
Brackish Groundwater Desalination
Brackish groundwater desalination transforms previously unusable brackish groundwater supplies into high-quality drinking water by removing not only salts, but also other contaminants such as nitrates and Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Salinity Management
Rising levels of salt in California’s surface and groundwater supplies require careful management to maintain water quality and protect the environment. It is critical to California’s water future that efforts are made to manage salt problems that could degrade water quality, increase treatment costs, jeopardize food production and render some water supplies unfit for use.
