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There are environmental and financial concerns https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/05/california-desalination-plant-coastal-commission/ https://calmatters.o

There are environmental and financial concerns https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/05/california-desalination-plant-coastal-commission/ https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/05/california-desali... I don't understand the financial concern at all. How could increasing the water supply increase the price? It only makes sense to me if the price is artificially low right now. Environmental damage by a desalinization plant couldn't possibly be worse than overdrawing the acquifer -- the defacto solution.

daedrdev 7mo ago
Building an industrial facility in california is much more difficult and expensive due to numerous regulations.
harrall 7mo ago
As part of the contract for construction, the county or city must buy a certain amount of water every year. Because desalination is not economically feasible, the water is more expensive and this extra subsidy raises the cost of the water bill. This is how it works for the facility in San Diego County. Building a desalination facility is economically hard to justify because the break-even point seems far away. It also assumes the state won’t eventually create a state-wide solution, which would benefit from a state-level economy of scale that a city/county effort might not.
- deleted 7mo ago
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- thaumasiotes 7mo ago
  > It also assumes the state won’t eventually create a state-wide solution, which would benefit from a state-level economy of scale that a city/county effort might not. How would a state-level solution to who deserves water more benefit from economies of scale? This is about as core of an example of where you don't want central planning as you can find.
dylan604 7mo ago
Water is normally "free" from mother nature. Desalinated water is not free as it cost energy to get the clean water. Even if there's a pump to get water from aquifers into the water system, that still rounds to free compared to the cost of running a desalination plant.
- peterbecich 7mo ago
  That is why I said "artificially low." As there is a water shortage, the current price should justifiably be higher. Instead we will simply run out or damage the acquifer by saltwater intrusion.

daedrdev 7mo ago

Building an industrial facility in california is much more difficult and expensive due to numerous regulations.

harrall 7mo ago

As part of the contract for construction, the county or city must buy a certain amount of water every year. Because desalination is not economically feasible, the water is more expensive and this extra subsidy raises the cost of the water bill. This is how it works for the facility in San Diego County. Building a desalination facility is economically hard to justify because the break-even point seems far away. It also assumes the state won’t eventually create a state-wide solution, which would benefit from a state-level economy of scale that a city/county effort might not.

deleted 7mo ago
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thaumasiotes 7mo ago
> It also assumes the state won’t eventually create a state-wide solution, which would benefit from a state-level economy of scale that a city/county effort might not. How would a state-level solution to who deserves water more benefit from economies of scale? This is about as core of an example of where you don't want central planning as you can find.

dylan604 7mo ago

Water is normally "free" from mother nature. Desalinated water is not free as it cost energy to get the clean water. Even if there's a pump to get water from aquifers into the water system, that still rounds to free compared to the cost of running a desalination plant.

peterbecich 7mo ago
That is why I said "artificially low." As there is a water shortage, the current price should justifiably be higher. Instead we will simply run out or damage the acquifer by saltwater intrusion.