It’s been nearly a year since the California Coastal Commission gave an Orange County water district the green light to build a new desalination plant in Dana Point. So I decided to check in to see how the project is coming along.
As it enters its 20th year of planning and preparation, a desalination plant proposed near Doheny State Beach continues to be met with delays and uncertainty.
In mid-2018, officials were predicting that the operation could be turning ocean water into drinking water as soon as 2021. Now, the project will be doing well to simply win all required permits by the end of next year.
South Coast Water District is set to receive an $8.3 million federal grant for the Doheny Ocean Desalination project secured during the previous round of funding, a district spokesperson said Wednesday. The grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation was green lighted by Congress in 2019. SCWD is in line to receive an additional $11.7 million grant for the desalination project that could potentially be approved by lawmakers this year or next.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
