Welcome to the web site of the Bay Area Regional Desalination Project. The Bay Area’s four largest water agencies, Contra Costa Water District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and Santa Clara Valley Water District are jointly exploring developing regional desalination facilities that would benefit the 5.4 million Bay Area residents and businesses served by these agencies.

The State Department of Water Resources recently awarded the agencies a $1 million grant to fund a small-scale pilot project. Early studies identified Contra Costa County as the best location for a pilot desalination plant. The pilot plant is expected to begin operations during the summer of 2008. A site for the full-scale desalination plant has not yet been selected.

March 2008

A consultant has been selected to build a pilot desalination plant in Contra Costa County that will begin testing pretreatment options, membrane performance, and approaches for brine disposal. After this phase, an environmental study will be conducted beginning in 2009. The design process will begin in 2010 and construction will follow in 2012.