![Santa Barbara's New Water Solution is the Pacific Ocean](https://cole-tpomag.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tpomag.com%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Fdesal_plant_main.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=620&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=75&w=1024&s=122896dbf34d104ae9ae8b774d450050)
An overview of a desalination plant in Santa Barbara, California, with a sludge holding tank and clarifier in the foreground.
The California drought is officially over, but the city of Santa Barbara is not forgetting. After the last drought about 25 years ago, the city idled its desalination plant only a year after it opened and later sold off equipment. That won’t happen again.
The Charles E. Meyer...