Desalination

By Tom Campbell

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy said, “If we could ever competitively, at a cheap rate, get freshwater from saltwater, that would be in the long-range interest of humanity (and) would dwarf any other scientific accomplishments." We are close to attaining the desalination technology necessary to achieve this great scientific accomplishment. Currently desalination is becoming ever more practical, as the cost of the energy required has declined.

California’s regulatory environment, however, continues to add cost. According to the California Department of Water Resources, permits from 15 agencies are required before a desalination plant can be built. (California Desalination Handbook, 73-74, prepared for the California Department of Water Resources by the California State University, Sacramento, Center for Collaborative Policy, February 2008). Lack of coordination and inconsistent requirements add to the time involved in building a plant

California should create regulatory teams with members from all pertinent agencies to work with desalination developers to streamline the administrative process – one interaction with government, not fifteen. The environmental concerns involved in desalination are not trivial. Marine life can be threatened by the intake of salt water and the brine left over after completion of the desalination process poses significant disposal issues. However, technological progress on research to address these issues has been promising. The State of California should assist this research. One of the best ways of doing so is through partnerships that allow intellectual property developed at UC or CSU in this field to be owned by the inventor, but with a perpetual royalty-free lease to the State of California.

The above are statements on several public policy issues drafted by Tom Campbell, former US Congressman, former California State Senator, former Director of Finance for California, and currently Interim Chairman of the Common Sense Party. They are meant to initiate consideration of several important issues; they are not the official views of the Common Sense Party. Please feel free to submit your own thoughts on these issues on the Open Policy Discussion Page.