Moderator:
Cathy Green, President, Orange County Water District
Panel:
Andrew Kingman, Executive Vice President - Development, Poseidon Water
Dan Cohee, Vice President, PDE Energy Solutions
Hiromu Nishimura, Infrastructure Systems Department Manager, Business Development Department, Global Water Systems, Hitachi
December 2015 press headlines read: "The newest weapon in the war on drought in California has arrived, an engineering marvel that will harvest drinking water from the ocean on a scale never before seen in the Western Hemisphere." This groundbreaking project is located in Carlsbad and produces 50 million gallons of fresh water every day, meeting 7 to 10 percent of San Diego Water Authority's demands and buffering the region against supply shortages for decades to come. Besides Carlsbad, there are very few desalination projects in the United States and most of those are small, inland facilities that clean up brackish groundwater. Yet, this technology is flourishing in other parts of the world, including Israel, Japan and Australia. Cost has been a factor in moving desal projects forward in the U.S., but as water shortages continue to worsen, policymakers and ratepayers are seriously reevaluating the importance of diversifying water portfolios and the value of water reliability. Come hear first-hand from a leading expert involved in developing the Carlsbad project, as well as leading international experts who have developed cutting-edge and energy-efficient technologies that are helping to make ocean desalination a reality in California and around the globe. Learn how these innovative ideas were financed and about the great potential that is still waiting to be tapped.