Posts

Water World: After Nearly 40 years, Peter MacLaggan Leaves a Liquid Legacy

Every time someone turns on the tap in San Diego County, out flows the work of Peter MacLaggan.

MacLaggan was the point man in the construction of the Carlsbad desalination plant, a nearly $1 billion public-private partnership that since 2015 has supplied nearly 10 percent of the potable water consumed in the county.

Desalination relies on the virtually unlimited supply of water in the Pacific Ocean. It provides a safe, reliable source of local water in a region that for many years relied on supplies from hundreds of miles away and was subject to mechanical breakdowns, seasonal shortages and the whims of nature.

Carlsbad Lagoon Dredging Starts Soon

Seawater desalination operator Poseidon is poised to take over the Agua Hedionda Lagoon maintenance dredging that has been done by local power companies since 1954.

Permits are being obtained for the work to begin in November or early December with expectations to finish by mid-April, said Poseidon Senior Vice President Peter MacLaggan at a meeting earlier this month of the Carlsbad Beach Preservation Commission.