Achilli Discusses Water Desalination With Arizona Daily Star

CHEE assistant professor Andrea Achilli recently spoke with the Arizona Daily Star in an article about Gov. Doug Ducey's proposal to build water purification plants. The two proposed plants would purify water from the Gulf of California to supply the equivalent of roughly 16% of the water Arizona receives from the Central Arizona Project, However, construction would cost roughly $5 billion.

“The more salty the water, the more expensive it is, the more energy intensive it is,” Achilli said. “Desalination is a very mature technology. ... We are not going to see it get much cheaper than what it is currently is. Desalination has its place, but it should be done after we exhaust all the less expensive water reuse options.”

According to the Daily Star, critics say the proposal goes too far too fast, while neglecting a host of other water problems and less costly solutions that should be addressed first.

“We have to start taking care of our own house before we can be asking people to put money into new supplies,” said Kathy Ferris, a former Arizona Department of Water Resources director and an Arizona State University research fellow. “We’re not doing that. It’s too hard to say no, too hard to say we’re not going to do business as usual. Instead of trying to clean house, it’s easier to say we will go out and find more water and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”