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The long debate over Poseidon Water’s proposed ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach continued this week as the California State Lands Commission released a draft of a supplemental environmental impact report analyzing planned additions to the facility that are meant to reduce potential harm to marine life and increase the plant’s efficiency. The supplement to a 2010 EIR addresses the possible environmental effects of a screen and diffuser added to the intake and outflow pipes, respectively, that would be used by the $1-billion desalination facility proposed at Newland Street and Pacific Coast Highway.

Solana Beach is on its way to becoming the first jurisdiction in San Diego to move toward an energy alternative to SDG&E, striving for the promise of cheaper electricity rates, greater local control and a higher percentage of renewable energy. In a historic 4-1 vote on Wednesday, May 24, the Solana Beach City Council launched into the exploratory phase of a three-phase plan to shift Solana Beach’s 7,800 energy customers out of SDG&E’s monopoly and into city-run community choice aggregation (CCA).

Samples from five schools show elevated lead levels in drinking water, according to new results released by the San Diego Unified School District. However, the levels do not meet state requirements for action by the district. The results released on Thursday show several samples that are higher than the 5 parts per billion (ppb) used as a minimum for reporting by the City of San Diego Water Department. However, the levels did not reach the 15 ppb necessary to require action by the district under guidelines set in place by the California State Water Resources Control Board.

 

The San Diego County Water Authority is floating a radical idea to upend how 19 million Southern Californians get their water. The agency paid for a poll last month that asked voters whether they would support the state seizing control of water supplies across the region, including much of the water used in San Diego. The $31,000 poll is part of an aggressive $220,000 campaign the Water Authority is waging against another public water agency, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The U-T’s print-edition version of a story (“Attorney: Agency’s meetings must be open,” May 18) omitted critical context that may give readers a false impression about compensation for San Diego County Water Authority Board members. The online version of the story said directors on the agency’s 36-member Board were collectively paid more than $80,000 in per diems for participating in certain agency meetings in 2016. The word “collectively” was not in the print version, leaving some readers to erroneously believe that individual board members collected more than $80,000 annually.