From Waves to Wells: Seawater Desalination and Coastal Groundwater Basins

Traditional sources of freshwater are dwindling as a result of increased demand, reduced natural replenishment, volatile weather patterns, and extended-duration droughts. Desalination, the industrial-scale removal of salt from saline water to create fresh product water, can be a valuable source of “new water.” “New water” is recognized in California as water that would not occur in a watershed or groundwater basin but for human intervention to cause the water to be captured or created. The California Water Plan Update 2023 identifies a goal of increasing desalinated product water by 28,000 acre-feet per year by 2030 and 84,000 by 2040. 

New desalination projects would benefit from clarifying the project’s legal rights to desalination source water and product water. This article explores creating "new water" through desalination, California's water rights framework as it relates to desalination, and how the State can address any obstacles to building new water supplies via desalination.

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