Here's why the desalination plant in Doheny was approved and Huntington Beach's wasn't

[Turbineguy]

2. There also needs to be a cultural change with the residents.

I was Chief Engineer on a ship once where domestic water consumption was about 30 tons per day. About 1 ton per crew member. Nobody was concerned, we made plenty of fresh water in the de-salinator. One day we got a big boiler leak. We now had a water shortage. We had a crew meeting to talk about ways to cut back on consumption.

The next day domestic water consumption was 12 tons. As time went on we consumed about 15 tons per day. The boiler leak was fixed. Domestic consumption stayed about 15 tons per day. I went on vacation. when I came back about 3 months later, consumption consumption was 15 tons per day, even though a number of crew members had changed as well.

With a little thought, people can reduce water consumption.