ARTICLE: "Water, Water, Everywhere … Seeking Fresh Sources, California Turns to the Salty Pacific, But Desalination Plants Face Criticism on Environment, Costs," by Kathryn Kranhold, Wall Street Journal, 17 January 2008, p. B1.
Poseidon Resource wins the right to construct a desalination plant off Carlsbad CA, just north of San Diego. It joins over 13,000 such plants around the world, most of them in the Middle East. Our biggest one for now sits in Tampa.
Not the easiest way or cheapest route, says its advocates, but it's drought-proof.
Poseidon says the electrical usage means it will sell water by the acre-foot at $950 instead of the region's usual local price of $700. The difference is the price you pay to hedge against uncertainty.
Environmentalists complain about damage to ocean habitat, but I've not seen anything impressive on that score.
Expect to see a lot more of this as we move forward into our warming century.
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