Israel first researched desalination in the 1970s when searching for potential solutions for future droughts. The first desalination technology, freezing water to remove salt and melting it to make fresh water, was used in Eilat.

When a serious drought hit Israel in the 1990s, the government rushed to build several desalination plants—all five plants were built along the Mediterranean coast. XL-capacity seawater desalination improved water quality, reliability, aquifer restoration, drought mitigation, and water security. Now approximately 42% of the current domestic potable water demand is supplied through desalination.

The Hadera desalination plant on the coast of central Israel is run by IDE Technologies, the same company responsible for the plant in Carlsbad, California. The Hadera desalination plant provides some valuable insight for California:

• Initially built in 2008 for 269 million euros, but completed in 2010 after a 70 million euros extension.

• Largest RO-based plant in the world with a production capacity of 462,000m³ per day.

• The plant includes sea and brackish water desalination producing fresh water to drink or for industrial uses.

• Water supplied to the Israeli Government from Hadera is $ 0.57/m³.

• European Investment Bank, Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank, and Banco Espirito Santo are all key players after financing the Hadera plant.

Avrahm Tenne, head of desalination at Israel's water authority, insists Israel is much different than the U.S. because Israel has a government run water sector, a major component the U.S. lacks in its attempt to relieve some of its water policies. Tenne believes water consumption is directly correlated with its price, which should be priced accordingly to reduce wasting it. He suggests Israel's success with desalination is a combination of public education regarding water use, recycling water, and desalination to provide any additional water needed. 

Israel's success with desalination, especially with IDE Technologies, brings hope to the recent XL-capacity plant in Carlsbad.

While desalination has few known environmental consequences, many agree desalination should only be used as a last resort because of the expensive operating costs and lack of long-term research regarding how it affects the environment.

Feitelson, E., and A. Jones. "Global Diffusion of XL-capacity Seawater Desalination." Water Policy 16.6 (2014): 1031-053. Web.

Harris, Emily. "Israel Bringing Its Years Of Desalination Experience To California." NPR. NPR, 14 June 2015. Web. 02 May 2016.