Development of Public Communication Toolkit for Desalination Projects

As many communities consider desalination as a sustainable water source that can bolster their water portfolios, public and private agencies proposing desalination projects face questions about energy usage, brine disposal, and impacts to marine life. Any new water project—whether it’s a dam, reservoir, or recycled water project—can face significant hurdles when it comes to public acceptance. The project provides municipalities and other water purveyors with a roadmap to craft their own strategic public outreach plans in support of a desalination project. The aim was to shorten the desalination learning curve for agencies as they undertake these projects and provide useful information based on the experience of other desalination projects in the U.S. and around the world.

Originally funded as WERF project Desal-12-02.