I haven't read the article because it's paywalled, but there are a variety of types of aquifers that refill at very different rates, and I'm assuming California has a type that fills very slowly. Here in Central Texas the Edwards Aquifer recharges like a lake and can refill very quickly, while in West Texas north to Nebraska the Ogallala Aquifer takes thousands of years to recharge and is basically a finite water source
this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2025
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The time to start desalinating off the coast of California started about 20 years ago. But just keep kicking that can down the road…
California has a number of operational desalination plants and several significant projects currently in development. Desalination isn't just some cure-all, it's very expensive and comes with an environmental toll
I hope you are correct. I was reminded of the Marin County desalination plant that was abandoned in the 1990s “because it started raining again”. The whole thing just reminds me of the slow transition to get off fossil fuels that had so many false starts. Anyone else remember the GM EV1 (also in California, also the 1990s)?
https://www.marinij.com/2021/06/28/marin-county-desalination/