City of Fort Bragg (CFB) Oneka Desalination Buoy (Iceberg) Pilot Project.

The City of Fort Bragg is deploying a single desalination buoy, known as an Iceberg, offshore in Mill Bay near its wastewater treatment plant as part of a two-year pilot project to test innovative, electricity-free seawater desalination technology. The buoy leverages ocean wave energy to produce potable water without reliance on shore-based power systems, a key differentiator from conventional reverse osmosis methods. The primary objective is to gather empirical data on performance, durability, and output efficiency within California’s coastal environment to inform the design and regulatory permitting process for a future scaled array of units that could augment the city’s water supply. The project operates under a 2-year General Lease – Public Agency Use approved by the California State Lands Commission, which expires on August 21, 2027, and is governed by a Mitigated Negative Declaration under the California Environmental Quality Act, with a formal Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program in place to ensure environmental compliance. The City of Fort Bragg serves as the lead agency, while the State Lands Commission acts as the responsible reviewing body, with project oversight coordinated by agency staff including the Senior Environmental Scientist and Director of Public Works as key points of contact. There are no formal contract clauses, pricing details, or procurement-specific elements such as evaluation factors, payment instructions, or contracting officer assignments identified in the available documentation, indicating this is an administrative and environmental approval process rather than a traditional procurement action. The project does not include specified delivery terms, invoicing methods, accounting codes, or contractor certifications typically found in federal acquisition frameworks, and no financial value has been disclosed. All technical and operational requirements are tied to the functionality of the Iceberg device and adherence to CEQA-mandated environmental monitoring, with acceptance criteria focused on environmental impact mitigation rather than product inspection or performance metrics against industry standards. The initiative represents a pilot-scale innovation effort aimed at exploring sustainable, off-grid water production, with approval milestones dating to May and August 2025, and ongoing monitoring obligations extending through the lease term ending in 2027.