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The southern region, encompassing states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, has significantly reduced <keyword id="15300" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="water" source="Orion">water</keyword> storage compared to historical averages at just 17 per cent of reservoir capacity, according to the recent bulletin of the <keyword id="19912241" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Central-Water-Commission" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Central Water Commission" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Central Water Commission">Central Water Commission</keyword>. In the bulletin released by the CWC late Thursday concerning reservoir storage levels across various regions of India, it was reported that 42 reservoirs under CWC monitoring in the southern region have a total live storage capacity of 53.334 BCM (billion cubic meters). As per the latest report, the total live storage available in these reservoirs stands at 8.865 BCM, representing only 17 per cent of their total capacity. This figure is considerably lower compared to the storage levels during the same period last year (29 per cent) and the ten-year average for the corresponding period (23 per cent). The reduced storage levels in the southern region are indicative of worsening water scarcity and potential challenges for irrigation, <keyword id="20333839" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="drinking-water-supply" source="keywords">drinking water supply</keyword> and hydroelectric power generation in these states. In contrast, the eastern region, comprising states like Assam, Odisha and West Bengal, has shown a positive improvement in water storage levels compared to last year and the ten-year average. The bulletin highlighted that in this region, 23 monitored reservoirs with a total live storage capacity of 20.430 BCM currently hold 7.889 BCM of water, representing 39 per cent of their total capacity. This marks an improvement over the storage levels from the same period last year (34 per cent) and the ten-year average (34 per cent). The situation is less optimistic in other regions. The western region, consisting of Gujarat and Maharashtra, reports storage levels of 11.771 BCM, which is 31.7 per cent of the total capacity of 49 monitored reservoirs. This is notably lower compared to the storage levels of the previous year (38 per cent) and the ten-year average (32.1 per cent). Similarly, the northern and central regions also show declines in water storage levels compared to historical averages. The broader analysis provided in the bulletin categorizes reservoir storage across various river basins as "better than normal," "close to normal," "deficient," or "highly deficient". Notably, river basins like Brahmaputra, Narmada and Tapi are marked as having better-than-normal storage levels, whereas basins like Cauvery and east flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Pennar are classified as highly deficient. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/ultraviolette-f77-mach-2-electric-sports-bike-launched-in-india-starting-at-2-99-lakh/slidelist/109615934.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/ultraviolette-f77-mach-2-electric-sports-bike-launched-in-india-starting-at-2-99-lakh/slidelist/109615934.cms" target="_blank">Ultraviolette F77 Mach 2 electric sports bike launched in India starting at ₹2.99 lakh</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/realme-c65-5g-with-5000mah-battery-120hz-display-launched-starting-at-10499/articleshow/109619597.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/realme-c65-5g-with-5000mah-battery-120hz-display-launched-starting-at-10499/articleshow/109619597.cms" target="_blank">Realme C65 5G with 5,000mAh battery, 120Hz display launched starting at ₹10,499</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/jiocinema-introduces-new-ad-free-premium-plans-starting-at-29/articleshow/109581033.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/jiocinema-introduces-new-ad-free-premium-plans-starting-at-29/articleshow/109581033.cms" target="_blank">An Ambani disruption in OTT: At just ₹1 per day, you can now enjoy ad-free content on JioCinema</a>

Southern India faces water crisis as reservoir levels plunge to just 17% capacity: CWC

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Andrew Halter delivers water 1,200 miles by rail to the Navajo Nation from Mississippi.</li><li>Navajo Nation residents struggle with water scarcity, with 30% lacking reliable drinking water.</li></ul>Andrew Halter had been in the railroad business for 25 years, mostly in middle management roles. It was his dream job and all he ever wanted to do.But when the world shut down in 2020, and he got laid off, he needed to figure something else out."It came to me one day like a clap of thunder," Halter, who is based in Pennsylvania, told Business Insider.Halter and his brother had long talked about the possibility of using rail to help alleviate the water crisis in the Navajo Nation. His brother, Chris Halter, runs the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.stbonaventuremission.org">St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School</a>, located on the southeastern edge of the reservation, which spans more than 27,000 square miles across parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.Nearly a third of <a target="_blank" href="https://nndwr.navajo-nsn.gov/">Navajo Nation</a> residents do not have access to reliable, clean drinking water, according to the tribe. The estimated population was over 165,000 in 2020, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://data.census.gov/profile/Navajo_Nation_Reservation_and_Off-Reservation_Trust_Land,_AZ--NM--UT?g=2500000US2430">census data</a>.The mission was already delivering water via trucks to 250 families, a small portion of the Navajo who are water-scarce. The families receive about 40 gallons of water a day, far less than the 300 gallons the average American family uses. The mission has relied on a local well to get the water, but if something happened to it, all those families would be without any water virtually overnight."To be honest, it was always the thing that would wake me up in the middle of the night," Chris Halter told BI. "If that well shuts down for some reason, what would I do next?"Now, Halter's company, <a target="_blank" href="https://jacobswell8.godaddysites.com">Jacob's Well</a>, in partnership with the mission, delivers thousands of gallons of water each month from Mississippi to the Navajo Nation via the BNSF Railway. The water-by-rail served as a lifeline in 2022 when the well had to undergo repairs that lasted months.The operation has grown quickly, and Halter is focused on expanding, both to provide more water to the Navajo Nation but also potentially to other places in the West, where dried up rivers and reservoirs are leaving communities increasingly desperate for solutions.<div type="image" title="Tank car" height="2049" width="3209" msid="110505100" hostid="261"></div><h2 id="a684fd17-93b4-488f-a009-a0f311e3306b">Some thought the water-by-rail idea was crazy</h2>When Halter first started calling railroads about transporting drinkable water, some thought the idea was crazy.He finally got in touch with Eunice Sun at BNSF, who currently serves as the business development manager of emerging markets."We haven't moved potable water prior to this opportunity, really, because the economics don't necessarily pencil out in order to pay for that water and pay for the transport," Sun told BI. But when Halter came to her, she said he did a great job communicating his vision and business plan.Halter said right now they can transport water, depending on fuel prices and other fluctuating costs, for around 38 cents a gallon. Currently, those costs are covered almost entirely by private donations to the mission. However, as the operation scales up and he transports more tank cars of water, those costs could come down.Getting a public utility to sell him hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per month was another story. "A lot of times, they think you're crazy," Halter said. Still, they were able to work out a deal with the water department of Helena, Mississippi, where Jacob's Well collects its water before it travels 1,200 miles by rail to the southwest.Once it arrives, the Navajo families can pick up water from the mission or have it delivered to their homes, just as the well water is.Originally, Halter said he couldn't even find information about how the water would travel, and it took a lot of testing before and after transport to ensure the supply stayed safe to drink."We've kind of had to wing it and make up our own rules as we go along and figure some things out the hard way, which we did," he said.It took around eight months from when Halter first contacted BNSF for the first shipment to go out, and the operation has only grown since. Halter said they currently average around two tank cars a month, which each hold 21,000 gallons of water, but the operation is capable of delivering 200,000 gallons a month if needed.They sent half a million gallons of water total in 2023. He's hoping to reach 2 million this year.<div type="image" title="Water truck" height="400" width="600" msid="110505104" hostid="261"></div><h2 id="b3ba473f-e5dc-4635-868b-ff5aed905355">Emergency water supply and the water crisis</h2>It's unclear at this point how scalable or economically feasible water-by-rail will be in other places, but those involved are hopeful.Chris Halter said he's currently conducting a study that he hopes will show the project has had a sound return on investment so that he can show tribal, local, and state governments that this is a feasible option.Sun said expanding Jacob's Well wouldn't come without growing pains, but that BNSF is happy to help support the project's growth. "It tugs at your heartstrings," she said, adding that it's not often she gets to work on a project that has such a direct positive impact on a local community.Halter sees water-by-rail as something that could fill a serious need in all sorts of situations, from communities whose wells run dry to natural disasters. He's already been in touch with the state of New Mexico and FEMA. He's hopeful that rail will be among the solutions that help alleviate the broader water crisis.After getting a severe case of COVID-19, Halter lost the use of his right hand and was not able to go back to work on the railroad, so he now runs Jacob's Well full time."It's become a driving mission to give these people water," he said. "I want to be able to provide people with water at the lowest cost possible, and I want it to make enough money to support itself, but I don't need to get wealthy on it."For now the operation is run on donations, but they're hoping they can get grant money or other public funds to help support it in the future."Water is a human right," Halter said. "And they should be able to have it."Have a news tip or a story to share? Contact this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:kvlamis@businessinsider.com">kvlamis@businessinsider.com</a>.

A railroad worker figured out how to send thousands of gallons of drinking water by rail from Mississippi to the Navajo Nation to alleviate the water crisis

We might be a few months too late but we congratulate Tesla CEO <keyword id="19903807" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Elon-Musk" source="keywords">Elon Musk</keyword> on the birth of his 12th child; our felicitations extend to Neuralink executive <keyword id="22138173" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shivon-zilis" source="keywords">Shivon Zilis</keyword> as well. It is no doubt a happy occasion for the parents, but when a person with as much street cred as Musk has his third child with one of his employees through IVF, we can hardly let the event slide without so much as wondering why the tech mogul keeps having children. Now, we do not want to go into the details of Mr Musk’s personal life or discuss his relationships with all the mothers of his children so far — Justine Wilson, Grimes and Zilis (we have a separate <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/elon-musks-12-kids-all-about-musks-dozen-kids-and-their-moms/articleshow/111280167.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">story</a> for that). But we can’t help but be interested in what is driving the owner of X (formerly Twitter) to expand his family at this rate given how committed he seemed to support climate action. Before you come at us with pitchforks for being child-haters, we’re merely stating what studies have already shown: having kids is possibly among the greatest contributors to a person’s carbon footprint. Though the extent of impact has been debated in the scientific community, no one can deny that there is a substantial burden on the planet’s finite resources as the population spikes further. Mr Musk has fathered a dozen children already. And there’s no telling when baby No. 13 would make an appearance. But we do suspect that the entrepreneur thinks his heart is in the right place. If Musk’s plethora of controversy-evoking tweets and speeches are anything to go by, it seems like the billionaire believes that he’s actually doing humanity a favour by having kids. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What he thinks of the fertility crisis" comment="subhead" text="What he thinks of the fertility crisis">What he thinks of the <keyword id="22186484" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fertility-crisis" source="keywords">fertility crisis</keyword> </cmsannotation>The global birth rate is dropping, nearing the point where populations stagnate or decline. This could lead to economic and social problems in the long run. Mr Musk feels very, very strongly about this, and the majority of his children were conceived through IVF. “If people don’t have more children, civilisation is going to crumble,” he said at an event. “Mark my words.” Not only does he encourage people to have bigger families, but he’s allegedly said that he wants more ‘smart people’ to have kids (that explains it). He has also joked about doing his best to help the underpopulation crisis around the time news broke that he had secretly welcomed twins with Zilis in 2021. But was he really joking? <div type="twitter" handle="elonmusk" handlename="elonmusk" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1545046146548019201"></div>And when he welcomed his third child with Grimes a month later, Musk tweeted about it again. This time, he lamented that population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilisation than global warming. <div type="twitter" handle="elonmusk" handlename="elonmusk" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1563020169160851456"></div>We’re almost certain he fully meant what he said too, given how unserious he has seemed in his intent of curbing the <keyword id="20212385" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-crisis" source="keywords">climate crisis</keyword> in recent times. And climate activists allege that all the baby-making is probably just another smidge of uncredible-ness to his already dwindling imagery as a climate champion. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Does Elon Musk care about climate change or not?" comment="subhead" text="Does Elon Musk care about climate change or not?">Does Elon Musk care about climate change or not? </cmsannotation>At this point, nobody can tell for sure. His brave choices to start Tesla have undoubtedly revolutionised the electric vehicle industry, offering a path towards cleaner transportation. On multiple occasions in the distant past, he has said that climate change is the biggest crisis facing humanity and he aims to address it through his work. Elon Musk has even proposed carbon taxes to incentivise a shift away from fossil fuels. However, his own lavish lifestyle paints a different picture. Musk's frequent private jet trips generate enormous carbon emissions, directly contradicting the environmental objectives of Tesla. Not to mention, since his acquisition of X, the platform has witnessed a rise in climate denialism, many climate scientists have left the platform frustrated, accusing it of becoming a breeding ground for misinformation. This directly undermines Musk's image as a champion for a clean energy future. Further muddying the waters are Musk's political leanings. His support for Republican politicians who downplay climate change raises questions about his own convictions. Clearly, this is hardly the first time we have reason to question Mr Musk’s motives for the planet through the lens of climate change. But if the SpaceX founder has changed his allegiances from the climate crisis to the fertility crisis, the world's richest man is putting his money (and genes) where his mouth is. Whether Elon Musk is having all these children due to the convoluted notion of saving human civilisation or simply because he adores kids or a little bit of both, is something only he — and probably the mothers of his children — know for sure. But this could just be the right time to ponder further about how individual choices can impact global discourse and vice versa.

Understanding Elon’s 12: Has Musk switched allegiances from climate to the fertility crisis for good?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists predicted how climate hazards will worsen in nearly 1,000 major cities by 2100.</li><li>Heat waves, energy demand, and mosquito-borne diseases will spike as global temperatures rise.</li></ul>Monthlong heat waves. Skyrocketing energy demand. Greater risks of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/west-nile-triple-e-mosquito-virus-diseases-us-2024-9">mosquito-borne diseases</a>.These are the climate hazards that people living in nearly 1,000 of the world's largest cities will continue to face as global average temperatures rise through the end of the century, a new analysis by the World Resources Institute, an environmental-research group, found. And the impacts won't be felt equally. People living in low-income cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Indonesia face the greatest threats.The findings come as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-summer-2024-hottest-record-globally-and-europe">2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record</a>, and billions of people are expected to move into urban areas in the coming decades. More than half the world's population, or 4.4 billion people, lives in cities. By 2050, city dwellers are forecast to make up two-thirds of humanity, with the vast majority of that growth in Africa and Asia. Some 2 billion people currently live in the cities that WRI studied, from Seattle and Rio de Janeiro to Johannesburg and Bengaluru, India."Most climate modeling looks at hazards, exposure, and risks at a national scale because that's where a lot of policymaking and international agreements are focused," Eric Mackres, the senior manager of data and tools at the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities and a coauthor of the study, said. "But that's disconnected from where people live. We wanted to put more localized information in the hands of those decision-makers so they're informed about the risks that they are likely to experience."<h2 id="c108ac2f-66b9-4462-bb7a-b51785a2b482">Local climate hazards</h2>To make predictions at a city level, Mackres said WRI built on global climate modeling done by hundreds of other researchers. These models contain daily information — both historical data and projections through 2100 — on air temperature, humidity, and precipitation. WRI used that data to make its own projections about the length and frequency of heat waves, how often people will need to cool their homes and workplaces, and the number of days with optimal temperatures for mosquitoes in cities with at least half a million people. WRI compared how those local hazards are expected to change as global average temperatures rise from 1.5 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels — a threshold scientists say the world is likely to cross by 2100.The world has warmed by about 1.2 degrees so far compared with mid-1800s levels, and the consequences are playing out around the world.<div type="image" title="A graph shows how long heat waves will last in seven regions around the world under 1.5 degrees of global warming compared to preindustrial levels." height="1080" width="1080" msid="113493288" hostid="261" sizebytes="66672"></div>In Bengaluru, India's fifth-most-populous city, extreme heat has caused severe water shortages and surging energy demand. Under 1.5 degrees of warming, heat waves could last about 13 days on average and stretch to nearly 38 days as global temperatures rise, WRI found. Bengaluru last year <a target="_blank" href="https://wri-india.org/news/release-bengalurus-first-ever-climate-action-plan-launched">launched its first climate-action plan</a>, which includes planting trees and expanding green spaces to help cool down urban centers.An enormous outbreak of dengue fever is underway in Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, peak days for transmission of mosquito-borne illnesses could increase from 69 to 118 a year, WRI found. The city is investing in vaccines, and community health workers are hunting down places that help mosquitoes breed, including standing water, to reduce risks.Meanwhile, places that haven't had to consider cooling strategies are now being forced to, including the US Pacific Northwest. Seattle was once the least-air-conditioned city. Now it ranks second behind San Francisco after a series of deadly heat waves prompted residents to install AC. The trend is playing out in cities that are already hot, too, like Tehran, Iran, and Marrakech, Morocco, and spiking energy demand along the way. If that demand is met with fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal, it could exacerbate the climate crisis, WRI said.WRI noted that there are limitations to its research, in part because there are a lot of unknowns about the future. National governments and cities can slow the climate crisis and protect people from its impacts, including by shifting away from fossil fuels and investing in infrastructure that's more resilient to heat and storms."Our findings are not a foregone conclusion," Mackres said. "These are choices we have between 1.5 and 3 degrees of warming, and none are out of the realm of possibility. It's really important that national decision-makers understand the impacts on cities and the actions that cities can take to both reduce climate change and to adapt to what's coming."<a target="_blank" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/19141193/">You can explore the data for your city here.</a>

A new tool shows what the climate crisis could feel like in your city

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Hamptons are facing an influx of exclusive social clubs and locals aren't happy.</li><li>Traditionally a quiet refuge for the wealthy, club nightlife is now encroaching on the area.</li></ul>Just two hours east of Manhattan, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dan-rattiner-inside-the-hamptons-homes-people-and-parties-2023-5">the Hamptons</a> is an ultra-wealthy beach hideaway where millionaires and celebrities from Martha Stewart to Beyoncé escape from the big-city bustle.At least it used to be.Nowadays, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-soho-house-member-club-worth-fee-2024-3">exclusive social clubs</a> with long lines, dress codes, and pounding music are popping up in the Long Island hub for the rich, and residents aren't happy.Take the Blu Mar restaurant, for example. The Southampton restaurant was recently transformed into an Italian restaurant and nightclub by Kyky Conille, who's operated several hot spots in New York City.Conille told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/hamptons-restaurants-nightclubs-hotels-wellness-petcare-1235937820/">The Hollywood Reporter</a> that the restaurant's club will be inclusive, catering to "customers from 25 to anyone who can still walk."However, another club in the back will be more selective."We will pick the clientele for the lounge,'' Conille told the outlet. "My doormen will choose by the way they dress. We don't want people coming in the lounge in the evening wearing shorts. I want to bring back elegance — for people to get excited to get dressed.''And Conille isn't the only one trying to shake up the scene.Scott Sartiano, the owner of the elite Manhattan social club <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-members-only-nyc-social-club-zero-bond-9000-waitlist-2021-12">Zero Bond,</a> where high-profile celebrities from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travis-kelce-eras-tour-cameo-taylor-swift-idea-2024-7">Taylor Swift</a> and Elon Musk to Tom Brady and Kim Kardashian go to party, planned to convert East Hampton's historic Hedges Inn into a new club location earlier this year, according to the same article.Business Insider previously reported that the club's fees for new members would range between $2,700 and $9,000 a year, depending on age.But Sartiano's plans had to shift in May after residents filled town meetings and convinced local leaders to set up an 11 p.m. curfew for this season.Since that spoiled the nightclub idea, Sartiano says he'll use the property as a new outpost for his New York restaurant, Sartiano's, for the time being.Still, some locals aren't buying it."Mr. Sartiano has greatly watered down his proposal so that it will simply be an Italian restaurant, and if that's the case, we will roll out the red carpet," Marcos Baladrón, the East Hampton Village administrator, told The Hollywood Reporter. "But if his ultimate goal is to open another Zero Bond, I think the neighbors should be very wary."<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/04/realestate/luxury/east-hampton-zero-bond-club.html">The New York Times</a> reported Thursday that town officials had seen no confirmation that Sartiano had officially leased the property.While the future of the Hamptons is uncertain, one thing is clear: The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scottsdale-paradise-valley-over-the-top-wealth-luxury-2024-6">wealthy enclave</a> is experiencing a cultural <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nickname-vs-real-name-identity-struggle-2024-4">identity crisis</a>, and locals will have to fight to prevent it from becoming a getaway for partyers."One of the lost things in this world is quietude," Carrie Doyle, the village trustee, told The New York Times. "People come out for peace and quiet, and the ironic thing is that to get it, you have to make a lot of noise. So that's what we've done."

Elite nightclubs are forcing the Hamptons into an identity crisis

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The largest desalination plant in the US is in San Diego.</li><li>Experts have said the huge costs and ecological risks mean these plants might not work nationwide.</li></ul>In the early 1990s, San Diego was dying on the vine, starved of water in a series of yearslong <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-fueled-droughts-unearthing-unexpected-discoveries-2022-7">droughts</a>.The county, which relied almost entirely on imported water, had to cut back on 30% of its usage and was at risk of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-05-mn-67-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">losing 50%</a>. At the last minute, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-30-mn-722-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a miracle</a> saved San Diego — <a href="https://www.insider.com/California-weather-whiplash-floods-drought-getting-worse-atmospheric-rivers-2023-1">rain and snow in the desert</a> replenished aquifers, saving the city from intense cutbacks.But the water didn't extinguish the passion of San Diegans, who after finding themselves in this situation, rallied together to find a way to become more self-sufficient, Jeremy Crutchfield, the water-resources manager at the San Diego County Water Authority, told Insider.Enter the Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. It would become the largest facility for turning salt water into fresh water in the United States. Now, about <a href="https://www.carlsbaddesal.com/faqs.html#:~:text=The%20Plant%20produces%2050%20million,San%20Diego%20County's%20water%20supply." target="_blank" rel="noopener">10% of the county's water</a> comes from that plant.It's not the only way that San Diegans get their water, but it's another tool in their kit to make sure drought would never threaten them again, Crutchfield said. "We've proven here in San Diego that it works," he said. But San Diego got lucky. Water access is threatened across the US, from a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-western-states-disagree-colorado-river-cuts-proposal-borrowed-water-2023-2">six-way tug-of-war</a> on the fraying rope that is the Colorado River's water supply, to engineers' <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mississippi-river-dangerously-low-second-year-in-row-army-dredging-2023-9">24/7 efforts to prevent</a> salt water from seeping up the Mississippi River.But for other cities, desalination might not be the answer.<h2>What is desalination, and how is San Diego using it?</h2><div type="image" title="Located in San Diego County, CA, at the Encina Power Station, The Claude &quot;Bud&quot; Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant is the largest salt water desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere and provides 50 million gallons of desalinated seawater per day." height="2965" width="5930" msid="104779170" hostid="261" sizebytes="793966"></div>Desalination works by taking salty water and running it through a series of increasingly fine strainers to remove debris. It's then pushed through a membrane with tiny holes that capture the salt while fresh water flows through.The holes in the membrane are about<a href="https://ixwater.com/the-viability-of-desalination" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> 0.1 micrometer in diameter</a> —<a href="https://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/nano-size" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> 1,000 times thinner</a> than a sheet of paper.Just to push the water through such a small membrane, you need "a heck of a lot of electricity," Robert Glennon, a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona and the author of "Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What to Do About It," told Insider.All that electricity <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-cars-grid-utility-bills-electricity-rates-cheaper-for-everyone-2022-12">costs a lot of money</a>.Each day, the plant generates 50 million gallons of fresh water for San Diego County, which over the course of a year amounts to between an estimated $49 million and $54 million in operations costs, a 2017 article in <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324049504578545661598973132" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a> said.The water-treatment facility in Orange County, California, which purifies highly treated sewer water into drinking water and serves a similar-sized population, costs about the same — $50 million — to operate each year. Except it generates about 3 ½ times more water than Carlsbad, meeting about <a href="https://www.ocwd.com/gwrs/frequently-asked-questions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">35%</a> of Orange County's water demands.Both plants cost between around $900 million to $1 billion to build.All together, desalination costs more money than most local governments are willing or able to spend on their own, Frank Ward, a professor of resource and welfare economics who studies water policy at New Mexico State University, told Insider.Ward said, "the grim specter of costs that always comes to bite us in the rear, doesn't it?"<h2>But when stars align </h2><h2><div type="image" title="A diagram explaining that desalination works by taking ocean water, running it through a filter, then using reverse osmosis to produce fresh water and waste." height="3839" width="4300" msid="104779172" hostid="261" sizebytes="182828"></div></h2>On its own, San Diego County probably wouldn't have had the funds to get the Carlsbad plant up and running, Crutchfield said.But there was enough public interest in water resources in the area at the time to get the attention of a private player — Poseidon Water LLC.In 1998, Poseidon agreed to front the funding, permitting, designing, constructing, and early operating costs, using company funds and<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/municipal-bonds"> public-activity bonds</a>. The company took on a huge amount of early risk, Michelle Peters, director of operations at Poseidon, told Insider. One of the reasons Poseidon got the plant approved was because it had found a location that made it easy to access water, which helped it sidestep backlash from local environmentalists.Normally, where a desalination plant gets its salt water from and where it dumps its wastewater is of major environmental concern. Sucking the water in means sucking any tiny or microbial life that could disrupt the ecological balance in with it.Then dumping dense, salty waste back can drastically change the ocean's salinity and <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/slaking-the-worlds-thirst-with-seawater-dumps-toxic-brine-in-oceans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffocate marine life</a>, Michael Hanemann, a professor of water economics and policy at Arizona State University, said.<div type="image" title="A diagram explaining how the Carlsbad desalination plant works." height="413" width="700" msid="104779174" hostid="261" sizebytes="24622"></div>These concerns troubled Glennon enough that when he was asked to consult on a new desalination proposal in the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-05/panel-rejects-idea-of-filling-salton-sea-with-ocean-water" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Salton Sea in California</a>, he recommended against it. He remembered thinking, "What would we be doing, taking this virgin piece of beach, a functioning ecosystem, and completely degrading it?"But the Carlsbad plant was built next to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/attacks-on-us-power-grids-increase-around-elections-experts-say-2023-9">power plant</a> conveniently located on the shoreline.The power plant used ocean water to cool its machinery — so the desalination plant could use that hot saltwater waste for its main supply. One person's trash is another's treasure, as they say.Since Carlsbad was using water that was being extracted anyway, it posed no additional threat to the ecosystem — at least on the front end. But it did have to address the back end.Peters said they developed a method of diluting the brine before sending it back to the shoreline by a discharge pond. In the eight years since it began running, the plant has kept salinity levels within regulations the <a href="https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/ocean/desalination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California Ocean Plan Amendments</a> has set, so in that regard, the method worked, Peters said.Moreover, dilution can be an effective way of managing environmental impact, Glennon said. <h2>The other options for saving water</h2><div type="image" title="A photograph of the rows and rows of reverse osmosis machines at the Carlsbad plant." height="3209" width="4278" msid="104779178" hostid="261" sizebytes="1443174"></div>Because of building and operations costs, plus their potential environmental and ecological toll, desalination plants might not be the saving grace to the country's water crisis that people might think, Glennon said. But they can be a backup plan."As an economist, in principle, there is a case for desal as a form of insurance against disruption of conventional surface-water supply," Hanemann said.But there are far easier methods to consider as the first line of defense against water shortages, such as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/las-vegas-turn-away-companies-not-practicing-water-conservation-2023-9">conserving water</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/orange-county-purest-drinking-water-filtered-sewage-2019-10">recycling used water</a>, and manipulating the cost of water, Glennon said. When applied rigorously, these methods have been promising in the past.<div type="image" title="A photograph of a person getting water from a tap at a promotional event for the Bud Lewis desalination plant." height="2800" width="3733" msid="104779180" hostid="261" sizebytes="311284"></div>In 2019, Los Angeles <a href="https://lacitysan.org/san/faces/home/portal/s-lsh-wwd/s-lsh-wwd-cw/s-lsh-wwd-cw-rw?_afrLoop=14485714539863279&amp;_afrWindowMode=0&amp;_afrWindowId=null&amp;_adf.ctrl-state=kkeuczw2b_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed recycling water</a> from sinks, showers, toilets, appliances, and machinery into its water supply. Recycling this source would make enough drinking water a year to equal the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-glennon-water-sewage-recycling-los-angeles-20190305-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seventh-largest river</a> in the United States, the Columbia River, Glennon said. With these easier options on the table, it's even more staggering that cities such as San Diego have pushed desalination efforts through.Peters recognized that her company's success in San Diego might be a rare occurrence.When it comes to using desalination in other cities across the country, she said, "I'm sure anything could be done. But whether that's the right call is going to be very dependent on where you're looking at."Roughly <a href="https://www.apmresearchlab.org/10x-desalination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200 desalination plants</a> are currently operating in the US and about <a href="https://www.wwdmag.com/water/article/10917779/desalination-in-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">50 to 75</a> new projects are proposed each year in the country.

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