Project Phases- Current Activities & Studies

Current and Upcoming Activities

Environmental Review of the proposed project is underway with several studies related to the intake, facility, and energy demands. For more information, click here.
Energy Minimization and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Study (currently being conducted)

Past Studies

There are several studies that have recently been conducted:

Pilot Study (Completed in April 2010)
Watershed Sanitary Survey (Completed in July 2010)
Intake Studies: Open Ocean Intakes Effects Study (Completed December 2010) and an offshore geophysical survey (Completed August 2010)
Brine Dilution (Completed November 2010)
Intake Feasibility Study(Completed September 2011)

Exective summaries for the completed reports are available for review. To access, click here.

Past Outreach Activities and Milestones

Scoping Meetings for Environmental Review

Two scoping meetings were held on December 8, 2010. . For more information, click here.

Community Informational Meetings

Community Informational Meetings were held throughout 2010 and 2011. For more information, click here.
Informational Meetings during Pilot Plant (April 22 and September 24, 2009). Click here and here for more information.
For a list of small groups and community meetings, click here.

Pilot Plant Events and Tours

Monthly Public Tours of the Pilot Plant: Monthly tours of the pilot plant were led through the pilot plant during the 13-months of testing. Approximately 15-30 people attended each of the one hour tours to learn more about desalination technology and the water supply issues for Soquel Creek Water District and City of Santa Cruz.
AWWA Tour and Presentation: A tour and presentation was held on April 8, 2009 for AWWA's CA/NV Spring Conference.
Open House: An Open House was held on November 8, 2008 for the community to tour the pilot plant, meet with the Engineers, Operators, and City/District Officials, and learn about the data collected thus far. Approximately 150 came to the event.
Grand Opening Event: A grand Opening Event was held in March 2008 to launch the 12-month pilot plant study.
Pilot Plant Groundbreaking: The City of Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek Water District broke ground for construction of a seawater reverse osmosis desalination pilot test plant located at UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory in July 2007.

Bruce Daniels, president of Soquel Creek Water District’s Board of Directors and a member of the Task Force, stated: “Both agencies have identified desalination as the best option, in combination with water conservation and curtailment (temporary water use restrictions), to preserve groundwater supplies and deliver a flexible and reliable water source during drought periods.”

pilot plant ground breaking

Dan Kriege, Bruce Daniels, and Ed Porter of the scwd² Desalination Task Force,
break ground at the site of the new Pilot Plant located at UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory.