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Key Vote for Doheny Desalination Plant Coming Thursday

/in , , /by /The Orange County Register by Brooke Staggs

The California Coastal Commission is slated to vote Thursday on a crucial permit for a project that would draw ocean water through the sand off the coast of Dana Point, purify it and use it to help bolster water supplies for communities throughout Southern California.

A dozen desalination plants are permitted to turn ocean water into drinking water in California today, from as far south as Carlsbad to as far north as Monterey Bay. A year ago, three new desalination projects were pending in Southern California alone. But only one still remains viable: the Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant, which is being developed by South Coast Water District.

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Modified Seawater Intakes Approved for Carlsbad Desalination Plant

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune by Phil Diehl

A permit approved Thursday by the California Coastal Commission will allow the Carlsbad desalination plant to modify its seawater intakes and discharge structures to better protect marine life and create a “stand-alone” system.

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Cal Am Receives Thumbs Up From Regulator for Desal Project Application

/in , , /by /Monterey Heraldby Dennis L. Taylor

California American Water Co.’s effort to build its estimated $322 million desalination plant on the Monterey Peninsula has reached an important milestone with a state regulator and now sets the stage for what promises to be a contentious hearing in front of the full California Coastal Commission.

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Poseidon Failed to Start Wetlands Restoration on Time, Says Coastal Commission

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Phil Diehl

Poseidon Resources, the company that built and operates the Carlsbad seawater desalination plant, is in violation of its California Coastal Commission permit for the restoration of wetlands habitat at the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge in South San Diego Bay.

A permit the commission approved April 30, 2021, required Poseidon to start the restoration work by Oct. 30, 2021, according to a staff report prepared for next week’s Coastal Commission meeting. The work has not started, although it is on track to begin this fall.

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The Future of Desalination

/in , /by /Geographicalby Roman Goergan

It was the end of a fight that lasted for almost a decade. On 12 May 2022, the California Coastal Commission, which has a legal mandate to protect the coastline of the US state, voted to deny the building permit for a large seawater-desalination plant that was proposed to be erected near Huntington Beach. Ever since the application to build the plant was made in 2013, this mega-project has been dividing experts, politicians and activists.

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After $100 Million Huntington Beach Denial, What’s the Future of Desalination in California?

/in , , /by /The Center Square by Madison Hirneisen and Cole Lauterbach

After a high profile, decades-long battle to build a desalination plant in Huntington Beach ended in denial, all eyes will be on the California Coastal Commission as it considers whether or not to approve two smaller desalination projects this fall.

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In Wake of Poseidon Plants Denial South Coast Water Looks to Fill Hole in County’s Water Portfolio

/in , , /by /Dana Point Timesby Breeana Greenburg

As the State of California faces a record drought, ocean desalination has been highlighted as a potentially more reliable alternative to imported water.

Following the California Coastal Commission’s unanimous vote to deny permits for the Brookfield-Poseidon Desalination plant in Huntington Beach last month, the South Coast Water District is working to obtain all major permits for its own desalination plant near Doheny by the end of the year.

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Opinion: Anti-Growth Commission Spikes Desal

/in , , /by /The Press-Enterprise

By rejecting the plan for a desalination plant in Orange County last week, the California Coastal Commission surrendered to environmental interests fundamentally committed to a world of restrictions rather than abundance. Rather than embrace innovation and technology, the commission has chosen to place the interests of a few activists over the interests of Californians.

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Opinion: Did Wastewater Recycling Help Defeat the Huntington Beach Desalination Plant?

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

For some time, California seemed well on its way toward a water future made more secure by desalination plants up and down the coast.  A dozen are currently in operation, including the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, which upon opening in 2015 became the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.  Ten more plants are being planned.

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Newsom: Desalination Project Should be Approved — “We Need More Damn Tools in the Toolkit”

/in , , /by /Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Citing California’s worsening drought conditions, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday made a powerful new push for a controversial $1.4 billion desalination plant on the state’s coastline.

The proposed oceanfront facility in Huntington Beach has been under debate for more than 20 years, and its fate could set a course for other desalination plants on the state’s coast. The California Coastal Commission is scheduled to take a final vote on the project in two weeks.

“We need more tools in the damn tool kit,” Newsom said during a meeting with the Bay Area News Group editorial board when asked about the project. “We are as dumb as we want to be. What more evidence do you need that you need to have more tools in the tool kit than what we’ve experienced? Seven out of the last 10 years have been severe drought.”

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