Why isn’t seawater desalting the answer to meeting water needs during droughts?
Although improvements in desalting technology are increasing its efficiency, the high-energy costs associated with seawater desalting make it prohibitively expensive for most water agencies, compared to other alternatives. The present capacity of California municipal seawater desalting plants represents less than one-tenth of a percent of California’s urban water use. 7. Does weather modification (cloud seeding) help during droughts? During the 1987-1992 drought, the number of weather modification programs operating in California (most located in Coast Range and Sierra Nevada watersheds) increased from perhaps a dozen to twenty programs. However, the lack of cloud masses suitable for seeding is a limiting factor on the potential for water supply augmentation during droughts.
