The binational agency that operates the aging federal wastewater treatment plant at the U.S.-Mexico border said declaring the sewage crisis an emergency to expedite the facility’s expansion may no longer be effective.
But the California Coastal Commission said Wednesday that all steps are needed to remedy the uncontrolled discharge of raw sewage and other pollutants as soon as possible.
After more than a decade in the trying, a major desalination plant to serve the Monterey Peninsula has cleared a significant hurdle—in theory, at least. In a 13-hour meeting that adjourned just after 10pm on Thursday, Nov. 17, the California Coastal Commission approved a conditional coastal development permit for California American Water, the private water utility that serves the greater Monterey Peninsula, to build a desalination project in neighboring Marina, a city whose residents are vehemently opposed to it, and who would not be served by it.
As the South Coast Water District prepares to present its proposed desalination plant to the California Coastal Commission next week, the San Clemente City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night, Oct. 4, to publicly back the project.
The council will send a pre-written letter of support to the Coastal Commission, which will consider on Oct. 13 whether to approve SCWD’s application to construct the proposed Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant.
Guidelines for how cities and local agencies should adapt roads, railways and water systems to accommodate rising seas were unanimously approved Wednesday by the state Coastal Commission.
The 230-page document sets a controversial benchmark by urging communities to prepare for the Pacific Ocean to rise 10 feet by 2100, a projection so far beyond current calculations that climate scientists haven’t yet determined the probability of it occurring.
Three members of the regulatory board considering approval of the controversial Poseidon desalination plant were called by the state’s environmental protection secretary at the time of last summer’s deliberations, an apparent violation of a rule that in serious cases can disqualify members from voting on the issue.
A long-awaited Coastal Commission hearing on California American Water’s proposed Monterey Peninsula desalination project is shaping up to be an all-day affair.
After nine months of waiting, the desal project is set for a special remote commission meeting on Thursday in which the proposal is the lone item on the agenda.
California American Water officials are defending the company’s proposed desalination project in response to the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s move last month to formally oppose it at the Coastal Commission in favor of a proposed recycled water expansion.
To a large extent, the fate of several multi-million dollar water projects on the Monterey Peninsula is in the hands of the California Coastal Commission. The question is whether the commission will grant a development permit for a desalination plant proposed by California American Water—or will the commission deny the permit and implicitly endorse a smaller project that would provide new water to the area by expanding the regional wastewater recycling facility. A vote is expected at the August 12-14 meeting of the commission.
California American Water has received a 90-day extension of the deadline for the Coastal Commission to consider the company’s desalination project permit application, effectively allowing commission staff about four more months to complete additional analysis.
On Tuesday, Cal Am Vice President Ian Crooks sent a letter to Coastal Commission official Tom Luster requesting the 90-day extension of the time limits for considering the desal permit under the state’s Permit Streamlining Act, which requires consideration of a permit within 180 days of completion.
While California scored the only “A” in a new environmental assessment of the nation’s beaches, the state’s sole shortcoming in the report pulls back the curtain on a growing conflict over whether beachfront homeowners should be allowed to protect their property against rising seas.
Some argue that protecting coastal homes, roads and train tracks with boulders and other types of seawalls is the most practical way to deal with sea-level rise. But the Surfrider Foundation, which issued the new report, is among those who believe that approach should be avoided. It says the result is the elimination of beaches as the ocean washes away sand and waves pound directly onto the armoring.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
