Overview

Forty out of fifty State water managers expect freshwater shortages to occur in their states in the next 10 years. Many of the states and regions with the most severe declines in water availability are also those expected to have the highest population growth in the coming decade. In most cases, increased water conservation efforts by both utilities and users are the most cost-effective way to reduce demand and improve water security (the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water). Beyond conservation, continued development is needed of technologies that support access to clean, potable water in order to ensure rural and urban prosperity, national and economic security, and health for all Americans. This Coordinated Strategic Plan to Advance Desalination for Enhanced Water Security presents the challenges and opportunities posed by the use of desalination technologies as a source of water resources for future needs.This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.Executive Summary * Introduction * Goal 1. Reduce Risk and Streamline Local Planning to Support Desalination * Priority 1. Assess water resources and future needs * Priority 2. Develop desalination tools and best practices * Goal 2. Reduce Technical and Economic Barriers to Enable Desalination Technology Usage * Priority 3. Encourage early-stage R&D * Priority 4. Develop small scale modular desalination systems * Priority 5. Advance technologies to reduce ecological impact * Goal 3. Encourage National and International Cooperation to Innovate and Develop Desalination Technologies * Priority 6. Improve Federal agency coordination * Priority 7. Promote public-private partnerships * Priority 8. Cooperate with international partners * ConclusionDesalination of seawater, estuary, and brackish groundwater (types of water with varying levels of salinity) provides opportunities to enhance water security by converting non-consumable saline water into drinkable water in regions where freshwater resources are becoming limited due to droughts or increases in demand. Desalination can also be used to provide sources of water for non-potable uses, such as mineral extraction, reuse in the oil and gas industry, and in manufacturing processes, offsetting demand for potable sources.Water desalination plays an important part in the water security portfolio of the United States. As of 2010, there were 649 active desalination plants in the United States with a capacity to treat 402 million gallons of water per day. The majority of domestic municipal water desalination facilities are sourced from brackish groundwater;11 in contrast, the international community primarily uses seawater for desalination. Given the diversity of water sources and technologies, greater international R&D cooperation should be encouraged to facilitate the sharing of desalination approaches and expand our Nation's water source options.

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