 The Gold Coast City Council chose Tugun as the most suitable site for the desalination plant due to being closest to the coast, having low environmental impact and cost, and being best suited to achieving a timely construction process.This choice was aligned with community values and expectations – community consultation conducted prior to construction highlighted that environmental impacts and cost were the most important issues when considering the location of the proposed plant.The Tugun site is compatible with surrounding land use, requires the shortest intake and outlet pipelines of the three site options and the inlet and outlet pipes cross a minor fault line.