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Huh; so desalinated water costs between $0.001 to $0.008 depending on the cost of the power. I pay about $0.0136 / gallon so almost 10x the cost of producing. Seems like (for non-agricultural use) we will be able to afford desalination -- I guess the real issue will be agricultural uses which are predicated on free water.
1. Increasing freshwater production along the coast.
2. Increasing freshwater distribution to Southwest regions.
3. Increasing stormwater drainage to prepare for more intense storms. This includes identifying and remediating areas of so-called "100 year" flood plains that put lives and property at risk.
4. Increasing freshwater storage capacity to prepare for longer droughts and lower rainfall.
Leftover brine is really a problem though https://www.wired.com/story/desalination-is-booming-but-what...
The article also mentions that inefficient thermal desal produces much more brine, with modern RO desal being more efficient.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
California's population is larger than Australia's. But yeah, LA's specifically is about half (give or take)
This gives Southern California including LA a listing as a single supercity population 24.4 million which is close but not quite there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_megalopolises
Los Angeles is a city of about 3.9M. LA County is well, apparently experiencing some population decline because last I checked this was a little over 11M, but apparently as of 2023 is around 9.6M. If you count all the urban areas that touch, are surrounded by or very very close by without driving out into the bloody desert, “greater” LA, 18.4M is probably a reasonably close figure. Some of what’s on Wikipedia’s map is a stretch though. The further East you go, the more rural California gets until you’re either in Clark County or Arizona.
San Diego though is by no means part of that. It’s a large city in its own right and going downtown to downtown, you’re talking at least between 2 and 2.5 hours driving. You can also just fly, on a regular commercial airline.
It's been used in Dubai, the middle of the desert, to create fake rain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding#cite_ref-8). It's been used in some US states (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eight-states-are-...).
Though it's effectiveness is debated and it cannot guarantee precipitation. It also has environmental impacts, possibly decreasing precipitation in other areas as well as causing health issues (it basically involves spreading salt or dry ice into the air).
Leftover brine is really a problem though https://www.wired.com/story/desalination-is-booming-but-what...
Those have to go someplace as well, and they would be mixed into that brine. Dumping a more concentrated version of that sludge into the gulf sounds like a bad time for people who live in the gulf region.
Don't get me wrong, I love this idea. I just know that there are hidden externalities here which need to be examined and dealt with properly.
How can that be true.
That's over three million acres.
Really?
I thought this was going to describe cloud seeding, artificially stimulating cloud formation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding It's been used in Dubai, the middle of the desert, to create fake rain ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding#cite_ref-8 ). It's been used in some US states ( https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eight-states-are-... ). Though it's effectiveness is debated and it canno…
I can envision a world in which wars are fought over this kind of behavior.