Poseidon Resources selects Barclays capital as financial advisor for the Carlsbad desalination project

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 18, 2009 at 7:48 am

From Poseidon Resources, this press release:

Carlsbad, CA – Poseidon Resources announced today that it has selected Barclays Capital (NYSE: BCS) as its financial advisor in connection with the financing of its 50 million gallon per day (MGD) reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant in Carlsbad, California.

After spending seven years permitting the project, the announcement marks the start of the process to finance the pioneer water supply project.

As financial advisor, Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, will provide Poseidon with a fully integrated, seamless solution to execute the construction and term financing of the project’s $300-plus million capital investment and associated closing, construction and startup period costs. Over the coming months, Barclays Capital will be coordinating development of independent technical reports, rating agency presentations, and execution of the debt financing.

“We are pleased that we have a strong and internationally respected financial institution like Barclays Capital advising us on the project during these extraordinary times,” said Andrew Kingman, Poseidon Resource’s Chief Financial Officer.

Poseidon Resources specializes in developing and financing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the Carlsbad desalination plant, please visit our website at www.carlsbad-desal.com.

June 18, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

1 Comment

Poseidon plant gets closer to tapping into seawater

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 27, 2009 at 5:57 am

From the San Diego Business Journal, this commentary by Ted Owen, president and CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce:

The end of a decade-long war of words finally came to a conclusion May 13 when Poseidon Resources received a unanimous vote from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board to allow the developer to start construction of the Carlsbad desalination plant.

Society is divided into two groups when it comes to the morality of our actions. One group says, “What’s the harm?” The other says, “What’s the good?” Sanity and the continuation of civilization rest with the latter group. The author of that quote is unknown to me, but in my opinion, it’s really accurate.

I said the war of words was over, but opponents to the plant, namely the Surfrider Foundation, will automatically file a lawsuit to try to overturn the decision. Just before the May 13 hearing, the Superior Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by the foundation and the Planning and Conservation League against the California Coastal Commission regarding the plant location.

More than half a dozen suits have been brought by Surfrider and Coastkeeper, and all have been thrown out of court. Two more are pending.

Read more of this commentary by clicking here.

May 27, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Desalination plan at defining moment; Poseidon is eager to get working

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 24, 2009 at 11:22 am

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

When Poseidon Resources recently received its final permit to build a large-scale ocean-water desalination plant, it marked a milestone for the state. The proposed plant will strip sea salt from 50 million gallons of ocean water a day at a Carlsbad plant and then pump it to people’s taps in San Diego County.

After six years of work to get approvals from local, state and federal authorities – including a final permit May 13 from the Regional Water Quality Control Board – Poseidon hopes to break ground this year and begin producing drinking water by 2012.

But the company still has to obtain $300 million in financing to build the plant and pipeline network, as well as convince the city of Carlsbad that changes to its plans are not significant enough to require new permits. “These are the good kinds of challenges you look forward to,” said Peter MacLaggan, Poseidon’s senior vice president. “Now we’re focusing on things that truly provide value.”

Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.

May 24, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Poseidon’s Carlsbad desalination plant gets water board approval

Posted by: Aqua Blog 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 Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

This just in from Poseidon Resources … San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board grants final approval for Carlsbad Desalination Project

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 13, 2009 at 11:14 am

From Poseidon Resources, this media statement:

San Diego, CA – Poseidon Resources issued the following statement today regarding the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board’s (“Regional Board”) unanimous approval (9-0) of the Carlsbad Desalination Project (“Project”):

“Poseidon Resources is immensely grateful to the untold number of San Diegans whose unrelenting support for the Carlsbad Desalination Project over the years has made today’s milestone possible.

“Today’s decision successfully brings to a close the Project’s six-year permitting process that included more than fourteen public hearings and over 70 hours of public testimony and deliberation.

“The Regional Board’s vote to approve the Project’s Flow, Impingement and Entrainment Minimization Plan completes the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit originally issued by the Regional Board in August 2006. Poseidon has now received every regulatory agency approval necessary to start Project construction.

“The Regional Board is the state’s prevailing authority on water quality regulations, and its final action confirms that the project complies with approvals previously granted by the Coastal Commission. The Regional Board’s action also ensures that the project’s unprecedented commitment to create 55.4 acres of new, coastal wetland habitat fully compensates for the project’s de minimis impingement impacts and entrainment impacts.

“Public officials, environmental scientists, private citizens, non-profit volunteers and legal professionals from across the ideological spectrum dedicated countless hours to examining the project. Poseidon is appreciative of the regulatory agency staff and the handful of environmental activists whose dogged input challenged us to refine the project. While we did not always see eye to eye, the rigorous and thorough scrutiny unquestionably produced a better project. As a result, California will soon boast the most technologically-advanced, energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere.

“After more than a decade working to make the desalination project a reality, Poseidon is proud to be moving forward towards the construction of a new, 50 million-gallon-per-day, drought-proof water supply for San Diego County.

“This new phase for the project will put 2,100 San Diegans to work and provide $170 million in local economic stimulus at a time when unemployment is at a record high. By 2012, we expect to be delivering enough water to meet the needs of 300,000 San Diego County residents, and the Pacific Ocean will once and for all be an essential element of California’s water supply.”

Poseidon Resources specializes in developing and financing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the Carlsbad desalination plant visit our website at www.carlsbad-desal.com.

However, Poseidon Resources still must deal with the Coastal Commission - click here, or continue reading the scroll.

May 13, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

1 Comment

Poseidon’s Carlsbad plant gets good news & bad news: The good news: another lawsuit bites the dust, and the bad news: Coastal Commission wants to reconsider its permit

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 13, 2009 at 8:05 am

Both these stories are from the San Diego Union Tribune. First, the good news for Poseidonand their Carlsbad project:

A judge on Tuesday ruled against environmentalists who sued the California Coastal Commission for approving construction of the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere.

The Surfrider Foundation and the Planning and Conservation League argued the commission’s approval in 2007 failed to require that the developer reduce the damage to marine life caused by the plant’s intake valves, which suck in and destroy fish, larvae and marine life.

Superior Court Judge Judith Hayes ruled that the commission’s approval of the project in Carlsbad did not violate the state water code, noting that the commission required the developer, Poseidon Resources, to restore 55 acres of wetlands.

“We’re pleased that the court has rejected the latest attempt to derail the Carlsbad Desalination Project by a narrow special interest opposed to seawater desalination,” Poseidon Resources Vice President Scott Maloni said. “We hope Surfrider Foundation will decide to put the interests of the San Diego region first and direct its lawyer to stop his futile legal assault.”

Read the rest of this story from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here. You can also read the press release from Poseidon by clicking here.

And now for the bad news for the Poseidon Carlsbad plant:

Just as the developer of an ocean-water desalination plant proposed for Carlsbad’s coast thought it was about to get its final permit, the California Coastal Commission staff says it wants to reconsider a permit it issued previously.

Poseidon Resources proposes building a plant that would turn 50 million gallons of ocean water a day into drinking water. It would be built on the grounds of the Encina Power Station, at Cannon Road and Carlsbad Boulevard.

The company will go before the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board tomorrow for final approval on a plan to make up for the number of fish and other organisms that its desalination process would kill. The proposal calls for the company to develop 55 acres of new wetlands and assure that they produce 3,774 pounds of new marine life a year to replace the marine life that would be killed.

However, Peter Douglas, executive director of the state Coastal Commission, wrote the water quality board last week saying information Poseidon provided that panel was inconsistent with information it provided the commission last year, and it wants to review Poseidon’s permit.

Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.

May 13, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

2 Comments

This just in … Superior Court denies Surfrider lawsuit against California Coastal Commission

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 12, 2009 at 4:52 pm

From Poseidon Resources, this press release:

San Diego, CA – On the eve of the Regional Water Quality Control Board project hearing, Poseidon Resources announced that the San Diego Superior Court has issued a final ruling rejecting a lawsuit that challenged the California Coastal Commission’s approval of a Coastal Development Permit for the Carlsbad Desalination Project (Project).

Opponents of seawater desalination, led by Surfrider Foundation lawyer Marco Gonzalez, have an extensive and unsuccessful history of filing legal challenges and appealing Project permit approvals. Six legal challenges have been filed since 2006; four have been dismissed and two are pending before the San Diego Superior Court, the same court that dismissed the petition against the Coastal Commission.

The Surfrider Foundation petition challenged the Coastal Commission’s approval of the Project on the grounds that the Commission failed to appropriately interpret and apply California Water Code, which requires that the Project must “use the best available site, design, technology, and mitigation measures feasible in order to minimize and intake and mortality of all forms of marine life”; and on the grounds that the Commission’s approval was expressly conditioned upon the Post Hoc submission of marine life mitigation plans.

The Court found no merit in the petitioner’s arguments and denied the petition (see attached Superior Court ruling) on all grounds.

“We’re pleased that the court has rejected the latest attempt to derail the Carlsbad Desalination Project by a narrow special interest opposed to seawater desalination,” said Poseidon Resources’ Vice President Scott Maloni. “The Court found that the Coastal Commission acted with proper authority and within its jurisdiction when it issued a permit to the Project,” said Maloni. “The arguments made by Project opponents have been rejected by every legal authority that has reviewed – and ultimately approved - the Carlsbad Desalination Project. We hope Surfrider Foundation will decide to put the interests of the San Diego region first and direct its lawyer to stop his futile legal assault,” said Maloni.

Since 2003, the Project has undergone a six-year permitting process that has included over fourteen public hearings covering 70 hours of public testimony and deliberation. Over this period, the City of Carlsbad, California Coastal Commission, State Lands Commission and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board have all approved the Project despite worn-out claims by Project opponents that the approval process was somehow flawed. The Regional Board alone has held five public hearings on the Project since 2006, each time the board acted to advance the Project.

“Each time a state regulatory agency has approved the Project Mr. Gonzalez has leveled a claim of misconduct. This has gone on for six years,” said Maloni. “Today’s court ruling confirms once again that this tired accusation lacks merit. Sound science and the law are not on his side, yet Mr. Gonzalez has chosen to continue his legal charade in order to delay the Project in hopes that it will ultimately fail. It’s not Poseidon that is bearing the brunt of Mr. Gonzalez’s reckless deception, it’s the residents of San Diego County that are in dire need of a new, local water supply,” Maloni said.

The San Diego County Water Authority recently declared a Stage 2 Drought Alert and voted to cut back water allocations by 8% to San Diego County. The desalination Project is capable of producing 56,000 acre feet per year, enough water to offset the current supply deficit and eliminate the need for water rationing. The Project was originally scheduled to be on line in 2009. “If not for obstructionist tactics, the Carlsbad Desalination Project could have been operational today, in which case San Diego County and its economy would have been completely inoculated against the cuts to imported water,” said Maloni.

In October 2008, Poseidon proposed to settle the outstanding lawsuits against the Carlsbad Desalination Project (see October 31, 2008 settlement letter attached). In return for litigants withdrawing the lawsuits filed against the state agencies that approved the Project, Poseidon proposed to provide $800,000 to backfill state funds that had been cut from the budget for water quality monitoring in the County of San Diego. The settlement offer was rejected by the litigant’s lead attorney Marco Gonzalez. “Instead of spending funds on a legal defense, we preferred to put our money towards a worthwhile environmental cause,” said Maloni. “We thought we shared a mutual interest with the Surfrider Foundation in healthy beaches and a clean watershed, and we hoped they would see the value in this settlement. We were wrong,” said Maloni.

Denial of the lawsuit challenging the Coastal Commission’s approval of the desalination plant removes the last remaining legal hurdle to the start of Project construction. “The outstanding litigation and any additional legal challenges to come do not impact our ability to start Project construction,” Maloni said.

Poseidon has worked in partnership with the City of Carlsbad since 1998 to build the desalination plant, which will have the capacity to produce 50-million-gallons-per-day of high quality drinking water and serve 300,000 residents annually. Once operational, the Carlsbad Desalination Project will provide enough drinking water to serve 300,000 residents annually. The facility is scheduled to begin construction this year and be operational in 2012.

Poseidon Resources specializes in developing and financing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the Carlsbad desalination plant visit our website at www.carlsbad-desal.com.

Update on more Poseidon news: check out this media release from Poseidon on Wednesday morning, and these articles in Wednesday’s San Diego Union Tribune.

May 12, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Carlsbad desal project hearing set for Wednesday; Water board takes third look this year

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 12, 2009 at 6:21 am

From the North County Times:

For the third time this year, a controversial desalination project goes before a government agency that could give final approval or delay it yet again.

San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the project. It would be built by Poseidon Resources Corp. next to the Encina Power Station in coastal Carlsbad.

Eight water districts, including the city of Carlsbad, have agreed to buy water from the plant, which is intended to supplement the region’s water supply.

But environmental groups such as Surfrider Foundation and San Diego Coastkeeper say the plant will unnecessarily harm ocean life. And one regulatory agency has claimed that Stamford, Conn.-based Poseidon misrepresented important information about the project.

Poseidon says it can’t raise money for the $300 million project until the water quality board gives its approval. After it raises the money, construction can begin.

Read more from the North County Times by clicking here.

For more on Poseidon and financing the project, keep reading the scroll or click here.

May 12, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Nation’s largest desal project faces financing hurdles

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 11, 2009 at 5:53 pm

From the New York Times:

Desalination’s transformation into a viable, mainstream water technology has long hinged on nettlesome fights over permits and politics. But with the largest proposed seawater conversion plant in the United States poised to be approved this week in San Diego, there is another problem: money.

The proposed $300 million plant, which would be built next to a coastal power station in Carlsbad, Calif., has long been viewed as a symbol of desalination’s plight in the United States. The project developer, Poseidon Resources Corp., has been winding its way through a maze of state and local agencies for six years, battling community groups, environmental organizations and wary politicians who fear desalinated water will mean added expense and environmental damage.

But that picture could change if the San Diego Regional Water Board votes for final approval. The stakes are high for desalination as many in the industry consider the plant a test case that could trigger a wave of development, especially in thirsty California.

“A lot of people who like desalination are looking to the Carlsbad plant to break the ice,” said Peter Gleick, a leading water resources expert and president of the Pacific Institute.

At Poseidon, officials are optimistic about the vote and have turned their attention to finding the money to build the facility. The shift comes at an inopportune time for the company given a national credit crunch that has made financing for water and energy projects difficult across the board.

But executives at Poseidon, which is partially owned by Citigroup Inc.’s Citi Sustainable Development Investments, insist their financial prospects are solid despite the economic uncertainty. The company recently sent its financial package to a short list of lenders looking to play in the fledgling market, and according to Scott Maloni, a vice president at Poseidon, “a half-dozen proposals” were returned.

Read more from the New York Times by clicking here.

May 11, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Poseidon’s long trident: Ben Hueso loves desalination so much that he let the company proposing a plant in Carlsbad write his letters

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 22, 2009 at 8:13 am

From San Diego City Beat:

Ben Hueso—City Council president, California Coastal Commission member and state Assembly candidate—really, really wants there to be a desalination plant in Carlsbad. Whenever he’s been asked about the prospect of Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources constructing a plant to turn seawater into potable water, he’s expressed his strong support for the project. He supports it so much that he’s even willing to let the company write salutary letters that he then sends under his own name.

Poseidon’s proposed plant would take in 304 million gallons a day of seawater and provide 50 million gallons a day of drinking water to the San Diego region. As threats of water rationing hang over the region like the storm clouds we wish would come, the company has received renewed support from elected officials—from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Chris Kehoe to the Carlsbad City Council. And Hueso.

The documents, obtained by CityBeat under California’s public-records law, show that on at least two occasions, Poseidon vice president Scott Maloni sent e-mail to Hueso’s chief of staff, Alonso Gonzalez—himself a candidate for City Council—drafts of letters Maloni wanted Hueso to send to the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Both letters emphasized Hueso’s position as a Coastal Commissioner, and both asked the water board to vote to approve the desal plant. In both cases, Hueso sent the letters unedited.

Hueso is well-placed to help the company. He’s generally supported by the environmental community. As San Diego’s City Council president, he’s one of the most influential politicians in the region. And then there’s his voting gig on the Coastal Commission, which is charged with protecting the state’s coastline and whose approval Poseidon needs to start construction.

Read more from San Diego City Beat by clicking here.

April 22, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Financing and legal hurdles still ahead for Carlsbad desalination

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 14, 2009 at 6:29 am

From the International Desalination and Water Reuse Quarterly:

The labyrinthine complexities of the desalination permitting process in California were further illustrated this week with the latest twists in the Carlsbad seawater desalination plant saga.

At a public hearing on 8 April 2009, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board concluded that the new coastal wetlands proposed by Poseidon as a part of the project will be adequate to mitigate both impingement and entrainment impacts of the desalination plant, when and if it operates as a stand-alone facility in the future.

This, as Nikolay Voutchkov from project promoters Poseidon Resources points out, is unlikely, as the plant will use cooling water from the collocated Encina power station. Since the power station is anticipated to be operational at least for the near future, the actual impingement impact of the plant is expected to be significantly smaller than the assessment presented at the board, which assumes that all of the intake impingement is associated with the desalination plant operations.

The approval was given despite a difference of opinion between Poseidon and the board’s staff about precisely how many marine organisms would be affected.

Carlsbad Desalination plant’s foes hit with a legal setback

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 10, 2009 at 7:41 am

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

Two environmental groups that oppose a proposed ocean-water desalination plant on the Carlsbad coast lost a round in San Diego Superior Court yesterday.

Judge Judith Hayes issued a tentative ruling rejecting arguments by Surfrider Foundation and the Planning and Conservation League that the California Coastal Commission misapplied state law when it gave Poseidon Resources a coastal development permit to build the plant.

The environmental groups challenged the Coastal Commission’s decision on several grounds, including that it failed to require Poseidon to reduce the amount of fish and marine organisms that would be killed in the desalination process.

Hayes said the commission’s decision was reasonable based on the evidence presented at its November 2007 hearing.

Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.

April 10, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Carlsbad desalination plant virtually approved by regional board

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 9, 2009 at 7:22 am

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board on Wednesday all but approved an ocean-water desalination plant proposed for Carlsbad’s coastline, but said it will give the project a final green light at a later meeting.

The decision brings Poseidon Resources to the brink of financing and building its $300 million plant on the south shore of Agua Hedionda Lagoon, six years after it began working its way through a labyrinthine permitting process. The decision also essentially ended a debate over whether Poseidon had under-calculated the number of fish that would be killed by the desalination process.

Poseidon Senior Vice President Peter MacLaggan said the project will go out to bid next month and begin construction by the end of the year. Poseidon plans to begin delivering water in 2011. The board’s decision “moves us one step closer to getting under construction and being able to supply San Diego County with a critically needed supply of water,” MacLaggan said.

Meeting in San Diego, the regional board said it will not increase the developer’s proposal to create 55.4 acres of new wetland acres to compensate for fish and other marine life that will be killed in the plant.

However, it accepted a staff proposal to increase the monitoring of the new wetland to assure it generates new life, and to try to match that with the fish the new plant will kill.

Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.

Read Poseidon’s media statement by clicking here; more coverage from the North County Times by clicking here.

April 9, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Poseidon issues statement regarding San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board hearing

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 8, 2009 at 6:44 pm

From Poseidon Resources, this media statement:

San Diego, CA – Poseidon Resources Corporation issued the following statement today in response to the Regional Water Quality Control Board public hearing:

“We are pleased the Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) closed the public hearing today and in doing so brought an end to the six-year public debate over the Carlsbad Desalination Project and its environmental impacts.

“We are also pleased that the direction given by the Regional Board to staff supported our conclusion that Poseidon’s proposed Marine Life Mitigation Plan (MLMP), which creates up to 55.4 acres of coastal wetland habitat, is sufficient to address the project’s entrainment and impingement impacts, and therefore no additional mitigation acreage is necessary.

“The decision by the Regional Board to return next month and finalize our National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit will allow us to begin construction later this year as scheduled.”

Poseidon Resources specializes in developing and financing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the Carlsbad desalination plant visit our website at www.carlsbad-desal.com.

April 8, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Poseidon’s Carlsbad Plant desalination vote delayed until May

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 8, 2009 at 5:00 pm

From the North County Times:

A crucial vote on a controversial desalination plant has been delayed, as a government agency grapples with how much environmental compensation to require.

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board voted Wednesday to put off its decision until May 13, to give its staff time to draw up the compensation plans. The board closed the hearing, meaning no new evidence or testimony will be considered at the next meeting.

Poseidon Resources Corp., the plant’s prospective builder, made encouraging progress at the hearing, said Scott Maloni, a vice president of the Stamford, Conn.-based company.

“We think it’s a significant milestone,” Maloni said. “They ended the public debate over the project, and they agreed to come back next month and make a decision. The time delay is insignificant in comparison to the milestone of the public debate coming to a close.”

Read more from the North County Times by clicking here.

April 8, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Poseidon hopes to clear last regulatory hurdle today, but error in impact report could delay approval

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 8, 2009 at 8:09 am

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

The developer of a proposed ocean-water desalination plant on Carlsbad’s coast expected to clear its last hurdle today at a meeting of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Poseidon Resources has moved through a series of regulatory agencies and expected the regional board to approve its environmental plan so it could begin construction this year.

But in poring over Poseidon’s study on the number of fish its plant would kill, the board’s staff discovered a math error last year that significantly underestimated the number. The number of fish killed could be four to seven times higher than Poseidon’s study originally estimated, staff members believed. The error could mean that Poseidon won’t receive its final approval today, and it might have to return to the state Coastal Commission, which already has granted a permit.

When challenged, Poseidon admitted the mistake but said it shouldn’t affect its proposal to create 55.4 acres of new wetlands to compensate for the fish killed. “We believe the . . . impacts for the desalination project are de minimis (insignificant), and the impacts can be offset by the 55.4 acres,” said Scott Maloni, Poseidon’s spokesman.

Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.

Poseidon’s hearing in front of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Board begins this morning at 9 am. I’ll be watching and posting any updates on the hearing as soon as I find them.

April 8, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

State budget cuts delay Carlsbad desalination approval

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 16, 2009 at 5:47 am

From Desalination & Water Reuse:

Cuts to the California state budget prevented officials of the San Diego County Regional Water Quality Control Board preparing recommendations regarding the proposed Carlsbad desalination plant for the board to vote on at a meeting on 11 February 2009.

The board, which is the agency regulating the intake of source water and discharge of concentrate from the desalination plant, therefore directed staff to have a recommendation ready for a decision by 8 April.

The 2006 desalination plant discharge permit requires project developer Poseidon Resources to develop an intake impingement and entrainment minimization plan. This must include preparation of a wetland mitigation plan aimed at addressing the potential impacts of the desalination plant intake when and if its collocated powerplant discontinues its present once-through cooling operation.

The wetland mitigation plan requires Poseidon to identify potential locations for construction of up to 55.4 acres (22.4 ha) of man-made coastal wetlands, which would be designed to create a marine environment similar to that which would be impacted by the desalination plant intake operation.

More from Desalination & Water Reuse by clicking here.

February 16, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Desalination plant developer survives potential setback; must return to State Lands commission in April

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 12, 2009 at 8:48 am

From MSNBC:

While drought-stricken San Diegans brace for water rationing, a desalination project that could meet 10 percent of the region’s water needs has been delayed for two more months.

The $300 million proposal by Poseidon Resources Corp. needs approval from one more state regulatory agency, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, to break ground on the project later this year, working toward a completion date in 2011.

“Every regulatory agency that has reviewed this project has determined that it’s environmentally benign,” said Scott Maloni, a Poseidon vice president. “Let’s build this project. We need the water.”

But the board voted unanimously Wednesday to withhold final permits at least until April, to allow the agency’s staff and Poseidon to work out what Poseidon officials called “minor issues” relating to environmental concerns that already have prompted lawsuits against Poseidon and the state’s Lands and Coastal Commissions, which have granted approvals.

“It’s just crazy; we need the water now,” said Julie Nygaard, a former water board member and Carlsbad city councilwoman. “There has been so much careful scientific evaluation that I find it shocking that the board isn’t ready to move forward today.”

San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board to close out Carlsbad desalination project permitting process in April

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 11, 2009 at 5:33 pm

From Poseidon Resources, this press release on the outcome of today’s hearing:

Poseidon Resources today announced that the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) voted unanimously to take final action on the Carlsbad Desalination Project’s Marine Life Mitigation Plan (MLMP) at its regularly scheduled meeting on April 8, 2009.

At today’s hearing, the Regional Board heard public testimony from a variety of elected officials, business and labor organizations and individuals overwhelmingly in support of the project. The Regional Board reviewed the MLMP’s performance-based approach and directed staff to return in April with a resolution for the consideration of approval of the MLMP.

“The Marine Life Mitigation Plan is the result of an interagency process that culminated in approval by the California Coastal Commission and State Lands Commission,” said Poseidon Resources Senior Vice President Peter MacLaggan. “The plan contains strict performance standards and enforcement measures that guarantee the project’s insignificant marine life impacts will be fully mitigated. Today’s action by the Regional Board will provide for a swift conclusion to the permitting process when the Board meets in April, and it clears the way to start project construction before the end of the year,” said MacLaggan.

The Regional Board required Poseidon to prepare the MLMP in April 2008 to fulfill a condition of the project’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued in August 2006. The discharge permit, which lasts for five years, includes a number of strict environmental protections designed to regulate the discharge of the concentrated seawater byproduct of the desalination process. The performance-based mitigation plan is the result of several years of research by renowned scientists, evaluation from independent Coastal Commission experts, and input from local, state and federal agencies. The MLMP was approved by the California Coastal Commission and State Lands Commission in August 2008.

Poseidon’s mitigation plan set a precedent established by the Coastal Commission for marine life mitigation acreage by creating, enhancing and restoring up to 55.4 acres of coastal wetland habitat in Southern California. Poseidon has also committed to serve as the steward of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon once the Encina Power Station is fully decommissioned. The lagoon currently supports aquaculture and fishery restoration programs as well as educational, recreational and research opportunities for the community-at-large.

Once operational, the Carlsbad Desalination Project will provide enough drinking water to serve 300,000 residents annually. The facility is scheduled to begin construction this year and be operational in 2011.

Poseidon Resources specializes in developing and financing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the Carlsbad desalination plant visit our website at www.carlsbad-desal.com.

February 11, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

State officials pushing for construction of Carlsbad desalination project; Final permit hearing scheduled for Feb 11th; plant construction to follow, says press release

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 11, 2009 at 9:22 am

From Poseidon Resources, this press release:

Poseidon Resources today released written testimony to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) from Governor Schwarzenegger and administration officials, and other state and local government officials encouraging the Regional Board to issue its final approval to the Carlsbad Desalination Project when it meets on February 11, 2009.

The upcoming Regional Board hearing marks the regulatory agency’s third public hearing on the desalination project in the past three years. This week, the Regional Board will consider final approval of the project’s Marine Life Mitigation Plan (MLMP). The plan was initiated by the Regional Board in April 2008 and approved this past August by the California Coastal Commission and State Lands Commission. Regional Board approval of the project’s MLMP will enable plant construction to start this summer.

State and local elected officials including Governor Schwarzenegger, California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Linda Adams, Department of Fish and Game Director Donald Koch, Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G Kawamura, Natural Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman, Coastal Commissioner, San Diego City Council President Ben Hueso and dozens of other local public officials and water agencies have written the Regional Board urging approval of the project’s MLMP. Copies of all the public comments on the desalination project can be found on the Regional Board’s website http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sandiego/.

“The support for the desalination project and its Marine Life Mitigation Plan from Governor Schwarzenegger, administration officials, local officials and San Diego public water agencies has been outstanding,” said Poseidon Resources Senior Vice President Peter MacLaggan. “This support is a reflection of the quality of the project and its marine life mitigation plan as well as the need for San Diego to reduce its dependence on imported water,” said MacLaggan.

“With each passing day, the impact of the drought on the state’s water supply becomes more pronounced,” said San Diego County Water Authority Director and Valley Center Municipal Water District General Manager Gary Arant. “The San Diego region will take a dramatic reduction in its imported water supplies from the State Water Project allocation in 2009. Our agricultural industry has been severely impacted, farms and jobs have been lost, and water rationing for all customers is anticipated this summer. We needed the Carlsbad Desalination Plant to be online yesterday.”

Poseidon lays out it’s Marine Life Mitigation Plan (MLMP) in the rest of this press release. Read more

February 11, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Poseidon Carlsbad, and why desalination got famous

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 9, 2009 at 7:50 am

From the Voice of San Diego:

The proposed Carlsbad desalination plant’s timing is perfect. With California’s water supplies crimped and cuts on the way, the idea of a new water source in San Diego is making politicians salivate.

The seawater desalination plant proposed by Poseidon Resources Corp. is advertised as being able to tap into the Pacific Ocean, a drought-proof supply. Now the state sits in a drought. And with the project’s permitting nearly finished, state leaders are lining up in support — from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to Linda Adams, the state’s environmental protection secretary.
The desalination plant would be located adjacent to the Encina Power Station in Carlsbad. File Photo

Their message to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, the last agency to withhold needed permits: Enough already. Stop slowing down construction.

So the regional board, the local water pollution regulator, is being assailed from both proponents and opponents of the project. Environmental groups have sued the regional board for giving conditional approval to the desalination plant. And state leaders are flexing their political muscles, urging the board to go all the way.

“The political interest in this item is huge,” said John Robertus, the regional board’s executive officer. “And every day it doesn’t rain, it goes up a notch.”

Read more of this article from the Voice of San Diego by clicking here.

February 9, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Surfrider and Coastkeeper are unnecessarily blocking Poseidon plant, commentary says; project is needed to reduce San Diego’s dependence on imported water

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 8, 2009 at 7:14 am

From the San Diego Union Tribune, this commentary by Gary Arant, general manager of the Valley Center Municipal Water District and a member of the San Diego County Water Authority. He begins by laying out the factors that have gotten the state of California, and more particularly, San Diego - into this water crisis, and notes that San Diego imports 85% of it’s water supply:

Three decades of legislative inaction and staunch environmental opposition have helped get California in this fix. If San Diego is going to survive, we’re going to have to continue supporting statewide solutions to reduce our dependence on imported water. All segments of our society must change our consumptive habits and push to develop new, local water supplies in addition to those recently secured by the San Diego County Water Authority (i.e., Central Valley and IID Transfer as well as the All-American/Coachella Canal lining projects).

Unfortunately, it seems the necessary collaborative effort does not exist today.

Last year, in partnership with Poseidon Resources, nine public water agencies known as the San Diego Desal Partners permitted the first large-scale seawater desalination plant in the state. The Carlsbad desalination plant would be able to provide 300,000 San Diegans with drinking water daily – about 10 percent of the county’s supply. These agencies along with Poseidon and the Water Authority are working diligently to make this project a reality.

This essential local water supply project could have been operational today if not for the actions of two special interest groups – Surfrider Foundation and Coastkeeper. Over the past five years, these organizations have been unable to provide rational scientific or factual environmental evidence against the project, and consequently every single permitting and regulatory agency dismissed their claims and approved the desalination plant.

Undeterred, these groups then chose to file six legal challenges against the project. Three cases have been dismissed, and three against the state agencies that approved the project – California Coastal Commission, State Lands Commission and San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board – are pending in state Superior Court. As with the first three, these lawsuits have little chance of success, but the litigants hope they can delay the timely groundbreaking of the desalination plant, risking 2,100 shovel-ready construction jobs and $170 million in economic stimulus that the county desperately needs during this recession.

Read the full text of this commentary in the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.

February 8, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Carlsbad desalination plant’s climate action plan wins prestigious engineering excellence award

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 29, 2009 at 1:44 pm

From Poseidon Resources, this press release:

Poseidon Resources, Inc. announced today that the Climate Action Plan developed for its Carlsbad Desalination Project has received an Engineering Excellence Merit Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) California.

ACEC California is a non-profit association of private consulting, engineering and land surveying firms which provides services for all phases of planning, designing and constructing projects. With 22 chapters throughout the state, ACEC California is dedicated to enhancing the consulting, engineering and land surveying professions, protecting the general public, and promoting the use of the private sector in the growth and development of the state. Each year, ACEC California’s prestigious Engineering Excellence Awards recognizes projects that benefit local communities and California as a whole. Poseidon’s Climate Action Plan was submitted to the ACEC by the company’s environmental consultant, Kennedy/Jenks.

“Poseidon Resources is honored that our Climate Action Plan has received the Merit Award,” said Scott Maloni, Poseidon Resources’ Vice President. “As the first major infrastructure project in California to voluntarily commit to carbon neutrality, Poseidon is taking the extra steps needed to make our plant energy-efficient and environmentally responsible. Once built, the Carlsbad desalination plant will be the most technologically advanced, energy efficient and environmentally-sound desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere,” Maloni said.

Poseidon’s Climate Action Plan was approved by the California Coastal Commission in 2008 as part of the desalination plant’s development approval. As part of its Climate Action Plan, Poseidon will use a number of industry-leading initiatives to minimize its energy consumption, setting a new standard for water infrastructure development. The plan utilizes a portfolio of initiatives including state-of-the-art efficiency measures, green-building design, solar panels, purchasing renewable energy credits and funding carbon offset projects. One of the carbon offset projects includes a pledge to assist San Diego’s wildfire recovery by planting 5,000 trees in areas damaged by the 2007 wildfires. Poseidon’s plan will reduce the project’s overall energy requirements and neutralize the Carlsbad facility’s carbon footprint.

Last year, Poseidon Resources won the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce’s Environmental Spirit Award and was named one of the Top 100 ‘Going Green’ Companies by Forbes Magazine. In 2006, Poseidon also won the prestigious Excellence in Environmental Engineering Award from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and the 2006 Global Grand Prize for Applied Research from the International Water Association for their desalination pilot plant which has been operating on-site since 2003.

Since 1998, Poseidon Resources has been working in a public-private partnership with the City of Carlsbad to construct a 50-Million-Gallon-Per-Day (MGD) seawater desalination plant at the site of the Encina Power Station to provide a cost-certain, locally-controlled, drought-proof supply of water. Once operational, the Carlsbad desalination plant will provide enough drinking water to serve 300,000 residents annually at a guaranteed price and at no risk to taxpayers. Construction of the proposed $300 million desalination project is scheduled to start in summer 2009 and will be operational in 2011.

Poseidon Resources specializes in developing and financing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the Carlsbad desalination plant, please visit our website at www.carlsbad-desal.com.

January 29, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

1 Comment

Surfrider Foundation challenges Carlsbad ocean desalination permit

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 28, 2009 at 7:22 am

From the Surfrider Foundation Blog:

The contentious plan to build a massive ocean desalination on the Agua Hedionda Lagoon in Carlsbad, California has been challenged in court. Surfrider Foundation, as lead plaintiff, claims approval by the Coastal Commission to build the largest ocean desalination facility in the western hemisphere violates California law because it was not designed or located to avoid the unnecessary destruction of marine life.

Open water intakes, like that proposed in Carlsbad, have been shown to suck in and kill all stages of marine life, significantly impacting healthy marine ecological systems. The project is also extremely energy demanding: stretching our current electrical supplies and undermining California’s efforts to curb global warming. According to Joe Geever, Surfrider Foundation’s California Policy Coordinator, “Healthy marine life populations are already threatened by pollution and impacts from climate change. This project would constantly ‘fish’ the water surrounding the intake and require approximately 40% more electricity than pumping water all the way from the Sacramento Delta – our most energy demanding current source of water.”

Surfrider and other environmental organizations have supported ocean desalination research and pilot projects to reduce the enormous energy demand and to test intake systems that avoid marine life mortality. That research has already shown signs of success. Geever summarizes their support for research with their opposition to this particular project: “Whether or not you support the idea of ocean desalination, it has to be done responsibly and according to the law. Responsible desalination may be right around the corner, but this proposal isn’t even close.”

Read more from the Surfrider Foundation blog by clicking here.

January 28, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Saving the economy, one ‘Welcome to Vista’ sign at a time

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 12, 2009 at 6:01 am

From the Voice of San Diego:

As part of the region’s master list of requests for federal economic stimulus dollars, the San Diego County Water Authority requested $175 million to build a pipeline connecting the Carlsbad desalination plant to the region’s water system.

The plant’s private developer, Poseidon Resources, didn’t ask for the money. The company said it doesn’t need federal funding and didn’t know why the authority asked for $175 million to build a pipeline estimated to cost $60 million to $80 million.

If the project got federal funding, no jobs would be created sooner, nor would construction speed up.

The project would do nothing, therefore, to further President-elect Barack Obama’s vision for catalyzing the nation’s recession recovery — “to begin to rebuild America,” as he said Thursday — by investing hundreds of billions to create jobs while revitalizing decrepit roads, sewers and bridges.

Still, the pipeline project was included on a 92-page wish list assembled by the San Diego Association of Governments and sent to Washington to make the case for why the region should get $7.4 billion of Obama’s stimulus plan.

Read more from the Voice of San Diego by clicking here.

January 12, 2009 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant, San Diego

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

A project of mythical proportions: commentary questions why Poseidon should receive ’stimulus’ funds

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 29, 2008 at 3:35 pm

From the Voice of San Diego, this commentary by Scott Harrison, chairperson of the San Diego Surfrider Foundation:

Rob Davis’ article “Asking Obama for Desal Subsidy,” highlights how the stimulus package can go wrong.

First off — are they kidding us? Anyone with the ability to Google “poseidon desal Florida” can pull up plenty of information on how this company [Poseidon Resources] so badly botched their attempt at a desalination plant in Tampa Bay, FL that the municipality took over the operation and then abandoned plans for a second plant slated there in Pinellas County. Now routinely referred to as a “fiasco” marked by Poseidon’s “malfunctioning equipment and financial fumbles,” the Tampa Bay example shouts out to us starry-eyed California waifs, “Don’t do it — Run away.” Wrong company. Wrong technology. … and let’s be smart enough to learn from Florida’s experience that throwing our valuable tax dollars at this kind of proposition would be utterly, entirely wasteful, both fiscally and environmentally.

Secondly, if this company and this technology was the cure-all that proponents all (yes, including every one of your local, state and national level representatives have drunk the Poseidon Kool-Aid) claim it to be, it would have no trouble attracting mountains (mountains!) of venture capital money. But the poor Poseidon project has this trail of failure that forces them to beg us hardworking taxpayers to provide the profit margin they so desire. The water will already have to be seriously subsidized to make it “affordable” as it costs so much more than our other water sources (including reuse) — now they want free money just to get their pipe dream off the ground? Let’s laugh at the emperor’s new clothes. … and move on to something more sensible. Consider the future, not just the panicky “now.”

To read the rest of this commentary from the Voice of San Diego, click here.

December 29, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

San Diego County Water Authority asks Obama for desal subsidy

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 27, 2008 at 7:03 am

From the Voice of San Diego:

The San Diego County Water Authority is asking the federal government for $175 million to subsidize the Carlsbad desalination plant, planned by Poseidon Resources, a private Connecticut-based company.

The authority included the project in its wish list to President-elect Barack Obama that my colleague Kelly Bennett wrote about recently.

If the feds decide to shell out the money, it would be a major subsidy for a private company. The water authority has no involvement in the Poseidon project, which is estimated to cost $300 million. The authority would pass the money along to Poseidon in exchange for guarantees that Poseidon would reduce rates to the local agencies that agreed to buy its desalted seawater.

Read more from the Voice of San Diego by clicking here.

December 27, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

San Diego County Water Authority asks Obama for $175 million for Carlsbad desal project

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 25, 2008 at 8:29 am

From the North County Times:

Poseidon Resources Corp.’s proposed desalination plant would get its own economic stimulus, if a $175 million federal funding request from the San Diego County Water Authority is approved. Construction on the plant, which would convert sea water to drinking water for thousands of consumers, is scheduled to begin in mid-2009.

Meanwhile, a global credit crunch has made such projects difficult to finance. Officials at Poseidon, which hasn’t secured financing, say they are confident funding will be available by the middle of next year.

The Water Authority’s request for federal cash is included in a lengthy wish list county agencies submitted to the incoming administration. President-elect Barack Obama has said he intends to jump-start the faltering economy with massive public works projects.

Both Poseidon and the nine public agencies that have signed a 30-year contract for the desalinated water stand to benefit if federal funding is approved. The money would help pay for a pipeline and pumping station to deliver the desalinated water to the water system.

With the $175 million, Poseidon will break even on the desalination plant earlier than originally projected, said Scott Maloni, a vice president with the company. In turn, Poseidon would speed up the date when it begins sharing cost savings from desalinated water with customers.

Read more from the North County Times by clicking here.

December 25, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Carlsbad desalination plant moves ahead; State agency OK’s plans to offset environmental damage

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 11, 2008 at 6:48 am

From San Diego’s KPBS:

A state agency approved plans that would offset environmental damage from a proposed desalination plant in Carlsbad. Several legal challenges remain, but the company building the plant doesn’t expect any delays. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The California Coastal Commission says the desalination plant would destroy the equivalent of at least 37 acres of sensitive lagoon habitat.

The commission also determined the plant’s operation would discharge at least 97,000 metric tons of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.

Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources has plans to offset those impacts and the coastal commission approved them.

Poseidon’s Scott Maloni says the company will restore 55 acres of wetlands and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Maloni: We will invest $60 million in the latest technology in the plant to reduce the energy needed to desalt seawater. In addition, on an annual basis, we will calculate what the indirect greenhouse gas emissions are from the project. And we will go out into the marketplace and purchase renewable energy credits or invest in offset projects.

But there are three legal challenges to the project.

Read more from San Diego’s KPBS by clicking here.

December 11, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Ultimate solution? Desalination may finally be coming of age in a thirsty West. Take it with a grain of salt.

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 22, 2008 at 5:53 am

From the High Country News:

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA One after another, city councilmen, legislators, farmers, business leaders, tourism promoters and water managers took their turn at the dais and spoke. Everybody agreed: San Diego County faces a water crisis, and desalinated ocean water should be part of the solution.

With drought and climate change a reality and imported water supplies threatened, residents need a reliable local water source. Conservation is important, they all said, but it can’t do the job alone. For 10 hours last November, the talk went on. But when the hearing was over, the decision was left in the hands of the California Coastal Commission.

The group has made enemies of developers for years and built a reputation as one of the toughest environmental bodies in the country. But when it voted 9-3 to tentatively approve the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, it did so over the objections of at …

To read the rest of this article, you have to have a subscription to High Country News. It’s a good publication, and if you’re reading Aquafornia, you probably would enjoy HCN. But it’s up to you, of course. If you want to find out more, click here.

November 22, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Water board sued over desalination approval

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 20, 2008 at 6:21 am

From KPBS in San Diego:

Two environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. The suit charges the board didn’t properly study how a Carlsbad desalination plant would harm marine life. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation filed the civil lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court.

The lawsuit says the regional water board should have done a detailed analysis of how the desalination plant would affect marine life before conditionally approving a plan by Poseidon Resources to deal with those affects.

Desalination closer to reality in California

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 27, 2008 at 12:08 pm

From Discovery News:

California is closer to hosting the largest desalination plant in the country, but not everybody thinks it’s a good idea.

Some environmental groups remain concerned about the impacts of the plant on the coastal environment, despite attempts to mitigate these concerns by Poseidon Resources of Stamford, Conn., the company that wants to build the plant. The plant would turn seawater into drinking water and provide a drought-proof water supply for about 300,000 people.

Whether or not the plant goes forward may have an impact on similar proposals around the country. There are, for example, an estimated 17 other proposed desalination plants just in California. Interest in desalination is likely to grow as pressure increases on the nation’s water supply, especially in the West.

Late last week the California State Land Commission granted the last remaining permit that Poseidon needed to go ahead with construction of the 50-million-gallon-per-day facility in Carlsbad, Calif., near San Diego, which they aim to have running by 2011.

But Marco Gonzalez, an attorney representing the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit environmental group based in Encinitas that focuses on waves and beaches, said Surfrider would continue to work to block the plant’s construction by following up with lawsuits.

“We recognize that desalination is a likely part of our future water supply portfolio,” he told Discovery News. “But our concern is that its time has not yet arrived.”

Read more from Discovery News by clicking here.

August 27, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Desalination plant should be first of many, says editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 27, 2008 at 12:06 pm

From the North County Times, this editorial with praise for the State Lands Commission to grant Poseidon it’s last needed permit:

Water, food and energy are the challenges that await us all as we look at what kind of a world we will leave our children. And our area’s lack of water is self-evident.

Innovative ideas should be welcomed, and converting seawater to fresh drinking water should be embraced within them. Thus we trust any lawsuits will be quickly dispatched.

The lands commission’s action was the right decision at the right time.

All residents should look forward to seeing the Carlsbad facility in full operation; and we hope it is rapidly joined with other similar conversion plants.

Read the full text of this editorial from the North County Times by clicking here.

August 27, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Posiedon, the biggest desalination plant in W.Hemisphere, clears the last hurdle; hopes to be online by 2011

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 23, 2008 at 8:44 am

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Poseidon Resources’ proposal to turn ocean water into drinking water at a Carlsbad plant cleared its final permitting hurdle Friday when the California State Lands Commission gave a green light to the project. The commission voted 3-0 in Los Angeles to allow Poseidon to co-lease the Encina Power Station’s ocean intake and outfall, which Poseidon plans to use to draw in and release water. The approval marks the culmination of a 10-year effort by Poseidon to build an ocean-water desalination plant on the grounds of the power station on the south shore of Agua Hedionda Lagoon in Carlsbad.

Poseidon plans to desalinate 50 million gallons of sea water a day and pipe it to local cities and water districts. Nine agencies have signed up to purchase the plant’s output.

Poseidon, which obtained approval for the plant from the California Coastal Commission two weeks ago, hopes to begin construction next year and produce drinking water by 2011.

From the North County Times:

“The Pacific Ocean has been added to the state’s water supply portfolio,” said Scott Maloni, a vice president of Poseidon, which is based in Stamford, Conn.

Supporters say that is a welcome source of reliable water to the region. Opponents say the plant’s operation would cause massive damage to the adjacent Agua Hedionda Lagoon. Some also say it’s better to extend the water supply by reclaiming and purifying sewage back into drinking water.

The vote amended a lease agreement between the state and landowner Cabrillo Power to allow ocean intake and discharge pipes to be used for desalination. Cabrillo owns the Encina Power Station, the site on which the Poseidon plant is to be built. The intake and discharge pipes sit on state tidelands.

Poseidon will now begin to raise the money to build the plant, Maloni said.

From Reuters News:

Carlsbad is the first of what is expected to be a wave of approvals for desalination plants in California, where about 20 plants are in various stages of planning. “This is a historic day for the state of California,” said Peter MacLaggan, senior vice president for Poseidon Resources, the Connecticut-based company behind the Carlsbad plant.

Poseidon is also developing a plant of a similar size in Huntington Beach to the north. Carlsbad will be twice the size of the current largest U.S. plant, on Tampa Bay in Florida.

California officials have set a goal for desalinated water production by 2030 equal to about 10 times the output of the Carlsbad plant.

California Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow said this week the Carlsbad approval was “essential.” “Desalination will probably never be a major portion of the water supply, but it’s going to be a critical part of a portfolio of a reliable supply,” Snow said.

August 23, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Poseidon hopes to clear the last hurdle today at the State Lands Commission

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 22, 2008 at 5:25 am

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

The California State Lands Commission will hold a hearing today on a Poseidon Resources proposal to build an ocean-water desalination plant in Carlsbad.

The commission, which has jurisdiction over state tidelands, will decide whether to allow Poseidon to co-lease the ocean intake and outfall now used by the Encina Power Station at Agua Hedionda Lagoon.

If the commission approves the lease, Poseidon will have all the permits needed to build the plant, which will turn 50 million gallons a day of ocean water into drinking water.

Read the full text of this article from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.

August 22, 2008 · Filed Under Poseidon's Carlsbad Plant

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment