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Desalination, Desalination, Desalination!
The Spectator
founded 2004 by ron cruger
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 by Jon Burras
surfyogi@verizon.net
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2022 Spectator Ron - The Spectator All Rights Reserved
C
    Water, water everywhere! The Earth is seventy-five percent water. A view from space will reveal the vast expanse of dark blue water that permeates this wonderful planet. Land masses appear scarce compared to the vastness of the oceans. The world's oceans are the greatest reservoir to ever exist on this planet. The only problem is that this vast resource of water is filled with salt.
    Climate patterns are rapidly changing in all corners of the world. Once dry areas are becoming inundated with floods and too much water. Other areas are subjected to years of drought where little to no rainfall is occurring. These drought-plagued areas are now scrambling on how to survive with a reduced water supply. California and the West are some of those areas that are experiencing record drought years.
    Here is where the problem arises. If we know that we are going to be experiencing less rainfall, why are we not doing everything possible to try to solve that issue? California receives its water from three primary sources: the SWP (State Water Project), the Colorado River and the Sierra snow pack. The state water project takes water from Northern California and pumps it throughout the state to Southern California. The Sierra snow pack uses streams and diversion canals to pump water from the Eastern part of the state. The Colorado River winds through several states including Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California, and is the third leg in this trio of water sources. All three are drying up.
    Since our traditional sources of water are drying up, it might be a high priority to find other measures of ensuring that the forty-million people who live in California are ensured safe and clean water. That is not happening. The Governor of California and the state legislature are too busy building a "train to nowhere" in the form of an overpriced and useless high speed rail train than to look at what the critical issues really are. The state's governing bodies are occupied with race and gender politics while feeling proud of themselves for accomplishing legislation like banning plastic bags and plastic straws. They have decided that the only means to save the state from a pending water crisis are to reduce consumption, recycle water from sewage treatment plants and to pray for rain while performing a rain dance.
    There is another real and viable solution that would work but the Governor and his legislative cronies refuse to endorse it. That solution is to immediately begin the construction of twenty-five to thirty large coastal desalination plants to remove the salt from ocean water and extract the fresh water to be used for agriculture and human consumption. What a novel idea! Why are we not doing this immediately?
Here in lies the problem-politics. California is run by an environmental activist industrial system that has blinders on when it comes to the environment. Desalination is not without trade-offs. Most desalination plants require fossil fuels to operate. The environmentalists do not like that. The desalination plants discharge a salty brine back into the ocean that may kill a few starfish. The environmentalists do not like that either.
    These same detractors will always mention the cost. Yes, it is more costly to acquire fresh water from desalination plants than it is from a snow melt in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This might be double the cost. If I can remember correctly, when I was ten-years-old gasoline costs about twenty-five cents per gallon. Now it is over six-dollars a gallon in many places-a twenty-five fold increase. People have not stopped buying gasoline. Doubling the water price will not stop people from buying water.
    Here is where the hypocrisy lies. These same environmentalists drive around in their cars, either gas, hybrid or electric. Tons of green house gases are released in the creation of each vehicle, not to mention the green house gases produced by gas emissions for the production of electricity to charge an electric car. Roads are paved over fields and valleys that destroy habitat. Environmentalists seem not to care. They travel on greenhouse gas producing airplanes and eat food that was grown using nitrogen fertilizer that was produced using natural gas and transported to the market by way of diesel powered trucks. Environmentalists running state politics are so blinded by their own hypocrisy that they will not allow desalination to be a viable option.
    Currently there are over 22,000 desalination plants in operation across the globe. There are over 1,400 in the United States alone. Many of these plants are small and are used in oil fields to clean up brine water. Others are massive and provide most of the water to a country. Saudi Arabia and Israel get most of their water from desalination plants. San Diego County in Southern California receives over ten-percent of its water from a coastal desalination plant in Carlsbad. Many countries and states are producing drinking water from the ocean rather successfully and are having wonderful results. Why can't California take its collective head out of the sand (or other areas of the human body) and join in the desalination revolution?
    Some might argue that the state of California cannot afford such a massive financial undertaking. Think again. California is one of the most heavily taxed states in the nation. While many states have eliminated their state income tax, California continues to double down on its taxation. The budget surplus for California in 2022 is estimated to be at least 31 billion dollars. If California were its own country, it would be the fifth-leading economy in the world. Of course California can afford it.
    This also becomes a national security issue. There are many military bases located along the California coast. From San Diego Bay, Camp Pendleton, Port Hueneme and up into San Francisco Bay, numerous military outposts exist. It would be very feasible and intelligent if each one of these military bases had its own independent drinking water system based on ocean desalination water. These military outposts are at extreme risk by being dependent on an outdated and evaporating California water system. Desalination would make perfect sense to ensure the safety of these military bases.
    There are many ways to mitigate or diminish environmental damage. For instance, Saudi Arabia is building the world's largest solar powered water desalination plant. By harnessing the sun's own thermal energy, these large industrial plants do not use any fossil fuels and do not emit any green house gases. Surely we are smart enough to develop our own desalination plants using solar power.
    There are also ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by building a desalination plant next to a natural gas powered coastal power plant. When generating electricity by burning fuel, the excess heat is funnel up and out through a giant smokestack. Why not repurpose that excess heat before it leaves the chimney to heat up water to be condensed into safe drinking water?
    Instead of these practical solutions, we continue to be disappointed by our elected officials. Real solutions are right in front of us. You might actually get things done if you could remove the politics. Desalination is a very real and decisive solution to a worsening water distribution system. When you are no longer allowed to flush your toilet or forced to leave the state in the next great dust bowl, remember that it is "you" who probably voted for this current batch of politicians. California voters voted these environmental zealots into office and the voters too must be held accountable for the decisions that their elected officials make.
    As you awaken some Sunday morning you might hear a loud commotion occurring in the street directly in front of your house. There might be scores of people dressed in ceremonial dress, shaking rattles and dancing in the street in a well-rehearsed rain dance. Do not worry. It is only your elected officials out there hard at work.