Oh good. Now California can continue to ignore their water supply problem and build the choo-choo to nowhere instead of desalination plants.
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You are close. Yes on Choo Choo to nowhere. Yes on No Desaltstion Plants. But you overlook the real “tragedy” : Emperor Jerry won’t have a crisis to kick around anymore. He will be insufferable and unpredictable at the same time.
California is building desalination plants, but as this article points out, they may not be cost effective, because this problem comes and goes.
“In 1991 Santa Barbara built a desalination plant, but barely fired it up before the rains came, so they had to moth ball it.
Right now they are bringing it back on line.
The city plans to spend up to $40 million to modernize and reactivate the plant, which was closed in 1992 when the last drought ended. It is among a number of desalting projects being considered along the California coast, including in Huntington Beach and the Monterey Peninsula.
In Cambria, a hybrid desalination plant that began operating in November treats brackish water to make it drinkable. And the nation’s largest desalination plant is being built in Carlsbad for $954 million.
Although it may seem natural to think the Pacific Ocean could be the answer to California’s water crisis, experts say a stampede toward desalination is unlikely.
“It has two big disadvantages: It’s really expensive and it’s energy-intensive,” said Henry Vaux Jr., a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of resource economics who contributed to a 2008 National Research Council report on desalination.
It could also put elected leaders in the unenviable position of sticking customers with expensive desalination bills should stormy weather return.”