Diplomacy between Turkey and Israel has enabled plans for a new desalination plant in Palestine.  In June, the two countries conducted negotiations that ended diplomatic discord that had lasted for six years.  The root of the conflict dated to May 2010, when relations between the long-time allies became strained: Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists aboard a ship that was attempting to break through an Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza.^[1]  The détente appears to reconcile the objective of the larger Turkish flotilla, which was to deliver aid to Gaza (the ships had 10,000 tonnes of goods, including school supplies and generators).^[2] 

As reported in the BBC, in 2010, a UN Human Rights Council report assessed that Israel’s military broke international laws; and in 2011, the UN reiterated its position.  The agreement allows Turkish officials to provide a measure of aid to Palestine—in the form of critically-needed water supplies; and enables Turkey to develop a power station and provide basic support services and infrastructure (i.e. a hospital and residential buildings).^[3]  It also requires Israel to pay Turkey $20 million in compensation.^[4] 

^{A solar-powered, rotating Desalination Plant, designed by Alexandru Predonu   Credit: Inhabitat}

An annual competition known as the Land Art Generator Initiative has inspired breath-taking designs for water and power plants. As reported in The Independent, one of the finalists in this year’s competition appeared to be both a public art installation and a power station: known as “The Pipe,” the design represented an electromagnetic desalination device powered by the sun, floating along the Pacific Coast.^[5]  The Canadian engineering firm Abdolaziz Khalili and Associates realized this year’s mandate—which urged competitors to create “aesthetically pleasing concepts for electricity and clean water generation.”^[6]  The firm reported that the “glittering silver tube” could produce 10,000MWh of electricity and 1.5 billion gallons of clean drinking water each year.  The competition’s winner will be announced in early October.

In other news: Poseidon Water’s proposed $1 billion plant for Huntington Beach awaits the review of a local water quality control board, which will assess the plant according to California’s new Desalination Amendment.^[7]  The regulation requires projects to “use the best available site, design, technology and mitigation measures feasible to minimize the intake and mortality of marine life.”^[8]  After this step, Poseidon will proceed with its application for a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission.