Desalination is a technology used to obtain drinking water from the ocean by removing the salt from saltwater. Marin Municipal Water District is moving forward with plans to use desalination as a future source of drinking water. MMWD, Marin County’s largest water utility, voted in August 2009 to build a plant that will convert about 5 million gallons of seawater into drinking water for about 190,000 people. It’s the first such project on San Francisco Bay.
Despite vocal opposition to the project that extended the MMWD board meeting well into the night, the board voted 4-0 in favor. The Desal plant would be up and running by 2014 at the earliest. MMWD is supported in this endeavor by the Affordable Desalination Collaboration.
GWC strongly supports increased water conservation efforts.
GWC does not support the use of desalination because:
- Unnecessary
- Conservation is more cost effective
- Harms marine life
- Energy-intensive facility will create huge amounts of greenhouse gases
- Conservation is the best source for more water
Learn More Here
Please read the Food and Water Watch Report Sustaining Our Water Future: A Review of the Marin Municipal Water District’s Alternatives to Improve Water Supply Reliability.
Visit the website of the Marin Water Coalition.
Calculate your water footprint.
Former Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) conservation director James Fryer explains how Marin County can meet its current and future water needs WITHOUT the costly and environmentally harmful desalination plant.
