[Redrum]

"When "the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere"  opens, it should generate 50 million gallons of potable water each day. That’s enough water for 300,000 residents, or 7 percent of the county of San Diego."

If California is going to invest in desalination at anywhere near the magnitude needed to serve its population,  the new environmental concerns will be:
a) the environmental effects of concentrated brine returned to the ocean from all those plants
b) the number of plants needed, the siting of which will raise aesthetic (oh! the humanity!) and loss-of-access complaints along formerly recreational beaches.

[Redrum]

"When "the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere"  opens, it should generate 50 million gallons of potable water each day. That’s enough water for 300,000 residents, or 7 percent of the county of San Diego."

If California is going to invest in desalination at anywhere near the magnitude needed to serve its population,  the new environmental concerns will be:
a) the environmental effects of concentrated brine returned to the ocean from all those plants
b) the number of plants needed, the siting of which will raise aesthetic (oh! the humanity!) and loss-of-access complaints along formerly recreational beaches.