![Picture](/uploads/2/4/2/8/24284939/7487952.jpg)
Images from tampabaywater.org, abtplanners.com, http://sites.duke.edu/sjpp/files/2014/01/20140107_CA_trd.jpg
"The Search for Drinking Water in California Leads to the Ocean" is about California considering desalination of Pacific Ocean water as a droughtproof drinking water source. It proposes desalination as a way to get water that is not dependent on the Sierra snowpack or rainfall. Although it is expensive, it may be necessary to provide water for California's growing population.
Some problems with desalination as a water source include disruption of coastal ecosystems and monetary costs. Building desal plants covers up areas of the coastline that house fragile ecosystems, such as wetlands. In addition, collection of water from the ocean takes plankton and other small organisms into the plant, removing them from their ecosystems, potentially altering the food webs they are part of. Building the plants themselves and paying for political support make it very expensive. One way to help conserve water and minimize the need for new sources is to make water more expensive. This would encourage the public to be more mindful of their water usage.
Some problems with desalination as a water source include disruption of coastal ecosystems and monetary costs. Building desal plants covers up areas of the coastline that house fragile ecosystems, such as wetlands. In addition, collection of water from the ocean takes plankton and other small organisms into the plant, removing them from their ecosystems, potentially altering the food webs they are part of. Building the plants themselves and paying for political support make it very expensive. One way to help conserve water and minimize the need for new sources is to make water more expensive. This would encourage the public to be more mindful of their water usage.