Media Advisory

What: Long Beach Seawater Desalination Research and Development Facility Groundbreaking Ceremony

Where: Los Angeles Department of Water & Power - Haynes Generation Station, 6801 East 2nd Second Street, (east of Pacific Coast Hwy.), Long Beach, CA.

When: Tuesday, November 11, 2003, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Who:
Hon. John Keys, Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Hon. Dana Rohrabacher, U.S. House of Representatives
Hon. Juanita Millender-McDonald, U.S. House of Representatives
Dr. Stephen Horn, Fmr. Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Hon. Beverly O'Neill, Mayor, City of Long Beach
Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners
Los Angeles Department of Water & Power Commissioners
Helen Hansen, Chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
    Desalination Committee

Description of Event:
Nearly two-hundred Federal, State and local officials will be present as the Long Beach Water Department, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the United States Bureau of Reclamation kickoff construction of the Long Beach Seawater Desalination Research and Development Facility, the largest Federally Authorized project of its kind in the United States.

With this temporary facility, Long Beach, Los Angeles and the Federal government will work toward making seawater desalination more cost-effective and environmentally sound through a groundbreaking research and development partnership. The research and development facility will utilize a breakthrough membrane technology process developed by the Long Beach Water Department, which independent pilot scale tests have shown to be 20 to 30 percent more energy efficient than more widely used desalination methods.

The findings made at this facility will assist the California Coastal Commission, the California State Legislature and the United States Congress in finalizing its own policies, both energy and environmental, relating to the construction and operation of seawater desalination facilities.

The Federal government will pay 50 percent of the projects total cost.

RSVP Contact:
Melissa Keyes, Special Events Coordinator
(562) 570-2309 Office
(562) 708-1592 Cellular