Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Desalination Category
Click here to view all posts

Poseidon’s Carlsbad desalination plant gets water board approval

Posted by: Maven on May 14, 2009 at 8:53 am

From the North County Times:

A landmark desalination project gained final approval from regulators Wednesday, bringing the promise of an entirely new supply of water to San Diego County —- and perhaps one of many in water-short California.

But opposition to the plant, including legal action, continues. And the company that wants to build the $300 million plant in coastal Carlsbad still needs to raise the money.

On Wednesday, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control board unanimously approved a permit for the plant. It had already considered the proposal twice this year. The permit approves a plan by Poseidon Resources Corp. to reduce the plant’s environmental impact on ocean life, especially young fish. It is to be situated next to the Encina Power Station.

Poseidon’s six-year struggle for approval has been closely watched around the nation as a bellwether of desalination’s prospects. All told, the plant has been considered at 14 hearings before various agencies.

If built, the plant would produce 50 million gallons of water a day, making it the largest in the Western Hemisphere. That represents about 9 percent of the water used in San Diego County. The cities of Carlsbad and Oceanside and seven local water agencies have contracted to buy water from the plant.

Read more from the North County Times by clicking here.

More on this story: Here’s coverage from the Silicon Valley Mercury News and the San Diego Union Tribune. You can read the press releases from Poseidon here and here. Also, yesterday, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that Poseidon will be returning to the Coastal Commission.

May 14, 2009 · Filed Under Desalination

Comments

Leave a Reply