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Researchers and state agencies push brine‑management pilots and new desalination technologies as brine volumes grow
Summary
Witnesses at the Assembly Budget Subcommittee hearing highlighted regulatory guardrails and emerging pilots to reduce brine volumes, extract valuable minerals and cut costs for desalination and water recycling, while urging continued regulatory flexibility and state support for demonstrations.
State officials, researchers and industry representatives told the Assembly Budget Subcommittee that rising desalination and water recycling activity will produce larger volumes of saline "brine" and that the state should encourage pilots that reduce disposal volumes and recover valuable materials.
"Brine disposal and management is a growing issue, and it is one that is causing water to become increasingly expensive," Chair Bennett told the panel when introducing the discussion. Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, said current regulatory frameworks require salt‑and‑nutrient management plans when recycled water is proposed for a basin and that regional solutions, such as the Central Valley's CV‑Salts program, will be necessary.
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