The state of California’s Coastal Commission voted 11-0 to approve the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project in Southern California. The $140 million desalination plant could convert up to 5 million gallons of seawater into drinking water. With a 11-0 approval, this project comes at a time when the state is facing record droughts and temperatures as it looks to address a future with limited water supplies. Water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the two largest reservoirs in the country, have hit their lowest levels ever recorded. California is also facing its third consecutive year of drought due to lack of snowfall and rain.
Officials say the Doheny plant will have minimum to no potential damage to marine life because it will have an environmental design. California has about 12 desalination facilities, but the Carlsbad desalination plant is the largest in the western hemisphere and produces three million gallons of drinking water a day.
