California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara City Council voted unanimously to spend $55 million on reactivating the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Facility that is currently unused. The move is considered an investment in Santa Barbara’s future water needs, especially as the California drought continues to worsen.
It’s estimated that the desalination plant, once active again, could produce up to 40 percent of the city’s water.
The plant was initially built during the 1990 drought and closed in 1992 when the severe need for an alternative water method subsided.
“Desalination has been a last resort. The way the drought has continued these last four years, we are really getting at the last resort,” Mayor Helen Schneider told The Los Angeles Times.
The decision to reopen the desalination plant became apparent to council members once the Cachuma and Gibraltar reservoirs reached extremely low levels. The lack of rainfall played a significant role in the reservoirs dropping to such low levels.
Out of the approved $55 million, $46.6 million will be used for design and construction. The remainder of the money will go toward legal and consulting fees.
The firm IDE American will manage and run the facility. The estimated cost to manage the facility will range between $1.5 and $4.1 million a year.
The plant is expected to reopen and be operational by fall of 2016.
