Desalination is an expensive process that may have many negative consequences for the environment. According to many conservation groups, the risks to sea life are great. Desalination plants draw in seawater. Consequently, unless the intake process is carefully designed, 80 percent of tiny organisms will be sucked into the desalination plant and killed. Many small lifeforms that fish depend on for food would be destroyed. The negative effects to the environment, combined with the tremendous expense, make desalination a highly risky solution.