In January 2016, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that the city of Santa Barbara approved US$ 2.3 million to remove contaminated soil at its desalination site. While reviving the plant, built in the 1990s and later mothballed, at a cost of US$ 55 million, workers had found glass, brick, ceramics and lead in November. Soil handling alone took US$ 1.6 million. From autumn 2016 the plant was to meet roughly a quarter of city demand, and the Montecito Water District was discussing a share of the output.
The report showed that even reviving an existing desalination plant could trigger extra costs that a city had to approve at short notice to stay on schedule.