California desalination plants to combat saltwater intrusion

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California desalination plants to combat saltwater intrusion

LOS ANGELES, California: Charlie Hamilton has not irrigated his vineyards with water from the Sacramento River, despite the fact that it is only yards from his crops, despite a punishing drought.

The San Joaquin River is close by, but water from the two rivers, central arms of California's water system, have become too salty to use in some locations.

In dry winters, less fresh water flows into the Sacramento River, the state's largest, allowing salt water from the Pacific Ocean to push further into the state's main water hub, known as the Delta. The drought, along with rising sea levels, has forced California's water managers, cities and farmers to look for new ways to stabilize their supplies of fresh water, according to scientists as part of the U.S. West's driest period in 1,200 years.

Planners and farmers are trying to fix the problem of saltwater intrusion with a desalination plant, an artificial rock barrier and groundwater pumps, but those unable to solve the problem can only hope that things will change.

Bobby Costa, a farmer who has seen his cucumber yields fall by 25 percent this year compared to wetter years, said we just try to hang on and hope the water quality gets better.

In 2021, the state hauled 112,000 tons of rock and stacked it 30 feet deep in a key Delta river to stop salt water from getting too close to its water pumps.

The state asked the federal government for permission to build two more barriers further north if the drought worsens, arguing it will be necessary to protect water supplies.

Local advocates stressed that this would only be another solution that will leave farmers, fish and people who rely on Delta water high and dry.

The barrier protects the pumps, but it does little to help some interests in the Delta who depend on fresh water before it heads south.

In Antioch, a city of 115,000 people, officials are investing in desalination after the situation worsened in 2021 to the point where the city could not use water from the river.

John Samuelson, the city engineer and director of public works, said the plant will be the state's first inland desalination plant to process brackish surface water.

Other Bay Area cities considering their own options for stabilizing their water supplies are reaching out to Antioch to learn more about its plans, he said.

We know that this problem is going to get worse in the future.