Desalination Town Hall Meeting

Last year, supporters helped Los Angeles Waterkeeper defeat a proposal to drill for oil underneath the Hermosa Beach seafloor. Now we face another ill-advised project in our Bay – a desalination plant next to Manhattan Beach on the El Segundo shoreline.

In a time of persistent drought, we all agree on the need to reduce the South Bay’s dependence on imported water. But we respectfully disagree with West Basin Municipal Water District that building a costly and harmful ocean water desalination plant is our best option.

Instead of literally sucking the life out of the Bay, West Basin can increase reliable local supplies by aggressively expanding reuse of water we already have. By expanding reuse, we can seize on a once in-a-lifetime opportunity to reliably meet our future water needs and clean the Santa Monica Bay in the process. It’s a win-win.

Each day the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant uselessly dumps 250 million gallons into the Bay. It’s time to value that highly treated water as the precious resource it is – we can no longer afford to throw water away. If Orange County can recycle 100 million gallons each day, so can we.

To learn more about the proposed desal plant and more intelligent options for securing our water independence, please join our staff scientists and policy experts for a lively town-hall meeting in Manhattan Beach on July 21.