Carlsbad desalination plant
Encyclopedia
Carlsbad desalination plant is a desalination plant under construction in Carlsbad, California
. It is scheduled to be the largest desalination plant in the United States. The project, headed by Poseidon Resources, has come under intense scrutiny and been stalled for more than a decade due to environmental (killing aquatic life in intake valves) as well as cost concerns ($530 million to build) Construction began in late 2009 and is scheduled to be completed in early 2012. Despite this project being the largest of its kind in the United States, it is expected to produce 50 million USgals (189,270.6 m³) of water a day, or 0.07 cubic km a year. This pales in comparison to the amount of freshwater lost from 2003 to 2009 due to drought and pumping in the Central Valley (California) alone, which was 30 cubic km. Meanwhile, Lake Mead
and Lake Powell
are below average by a combined 12.09 million acre-feet (14.92 cubic km) as of December 2009, both of which were above average in early 2002.
Carlsbad, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Carlsbad had a population of 105,328. The population density was 2,693.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Carlsbad was 87,205 White, 1,379 African American, 514 Native American, 7,460 Asian, 198 Pacific Islander, 4,189 from other...
. It is scheduled to be the largest desalination plant in the United States. The project, headed by Poseidon Resources, has come under intense scrutiny and been stalled for more than a decade due to environmental (killing aquatic life in intake valves) as well as cost concerns ($530 million to build) Construction began in late 2009 and is scheduled to be completed in early 2012. Despite this project being the largest of its kind in the United States, it is expected to produce 50 million USgals (189,270.6 m³) of water a day, or 0.07 cubic km a year. This pales in comparison to the amount of freshwater lost from 2003 to 2009 due to drought and pumping in the Central Valley (California) alone, which was 30 cubic km. Meanwhile, Lake Mead
Lake Mead
Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States. It is located on the Colorado River about southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the states of Nevada and Arizona. Formed by water impounded by the Hoover Dam, it extends behind the dam, holding approximately of water.-History:The lake was...
and Lake Powell
Lake Powell
Lake Powell is a huge reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona . It is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States behind Lake Mead, storing of water when full...
are below average by a combined 12.09 million acre-feet (14.92 cubic km) as of December 2009, both of which were above average in early 2002.