This is a conversation Surfrider has encouraged before, and would require water agencies to be more visionary, rather than worried about conservation reducing their revenue stream. Two reports from the Pacific Institute, a non-profit interdisciplinary research group, speak to this issue. In 2010, their report titled “California's Next Million Acre-Feet: Saving Water Energy and Money,” asserted that improved water efficiency programs could save enough water annually to equal the output of 18 desalination plants such as the Carlsbad project. In 2012, the Pacific Institute examined the costs and risks associated with desalination in their report titled “Key Issues for Seawater Desalination in California: Cost and Financing”.
Check out the full article here.
