# Plain Language Summary: Desalination Development Act

This bill makes it easier for the federal government to help fund desalination projects—facilities that turn ocean water or salty groundwater into fresh drinking water. Right now, communities in drought-prone areas like California often struggle to find enough water, and this bill aims to help them develop desalination as a solution by providing federal money to help pay for these projects.

Here's how it works in practice: If a state, water district, or local government wants to build a desalination plant, they can now apply for federal funding to cover part of the cost. For most projects, the federal government would pay up to 25 percent of the total cost, with the local sponsors covering the rest. However, for smaller, specially-designed projects serving communities that import most of their water, the federal share can go up to 35 percent of construction costs, capped at $20 million in federal money. The bill sets aside $260 million in federal funding for these projects between 2020 and 2024. Before any project gets federal money, Congress has to approve the initial funding, though once approved, additional funding can be awarded without going back to Congress each time.

The bill also establishes priorities for which projects get funded first. The government will favor projects that help drought-stricken areas, reduce reliance on imported water supplies (especially water that harms endangered species or fragile ecosystems like California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta), use renewable energy, and are energy-efficient. For ocean desalination specifically, projects must use environmentally responsible intake systems and disposal methods that don't harm marine life or dump salty wastewater into protected areas. Essentially, this bill opens a federal funding door for communities desperate for new water sources, but only if they can prove their projects are financially sound, environmentally responsible, and actually needed.

Desalination Development Act

Levin, Mike

Desalination Development Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2024 a grant program for constructing desalination projects. The bill also revises the program, including by requiring the prioritization of projects that maximize energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy.