The Marin Metropolitan Water District in California, USA, has published the final environmental impact report (EIR) for its proposed desalination plant on San Francisco Bay (see D&WR technical article August/September 2008).
The MMWD will consider certifying the report at a meeting on 4 February 2009.
Included in the report is a list of possible environmental effects and mitigation measures, including the impact of a tsunami.
On concentrate disposal into the bay, the report concludes “Discharge of brine to San Francisco Bay could result in local mortality or degradation of biological communities that surround the outfall. However, brine dilution modeling indicates that the discharge would be rapidly mixed and equal to ambient conditions within a few feet of the diffuser”.