(Left to right) State Water Resources Control Board Member Nichole Morgan, State Water Resources Control Board Chairman E. Joaquin Esquivel, California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth, DWR Deputy Director of Statewide Water Resources Planning and Enterprise Project Management Joel Metzger and Antioch Mayor Ron Bernal are photographed at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the City of Antioch’s Brackish Water Desalination Plant, a new facility that uses energy-efficient, low-waste technology to treat Delta brackish water. Credit: DWR
September 22, 2025 – Following several years of planning and investment, the City of Antioch has reached a climate-resilient milestone: a new brackish water desalination facility near its existing water treatment plant.
The facility, supported by $10 million in Proposition 1 desalination grant funding from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and a $60 million low-interest loan from the California Water Boards’ Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, will produce up to 6 million gallons per day of treated drinking water —an important boost to regional supply reliability amid rising salinity in the San Joaquin River…