Santa Barbara to spend $55 million to reactivate city’s desalination plant

The Santa Barbara City Council has unanimously voted to spend $55 million to reactivate the city’s desalination plant and tap the ocean to turn salty seawater to fresh water amid an historic drought.

KEYT-TV reports the council voted Tuesday to restart the facility, which could provide up to 40 percent of Santa Barbara’s water.

Council members called the desalination plant an insurance policy against future droughts. It could be online by next year.

The firm IDE American will run the facility, which was built during a dry spell in the 1990s and closed a few years later.

IDE says it will cost between $1.5 and $4.1 million a year to run, depending on how much water is needed.

KEYT says customers could be hit with higher rates to help pay for plant operations.