Workers paint the scaffolding for the roof that will cover the walls of filters used in desalination and are in place at Poseidon Water’s desalination plant site in Carlsbad. /ADDITIONAL INF0 – 01.WATERdesal.0412.mg – 04/06/2015 – MANDATORY CREDIT: MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Poseidon Water is one permit away from building a desalination plant in Huntington Beach that once complete will supply 7 to 9 percent of Orange County’s water. Poseidon has nearly finished construction on a similar desalination plant in Carlsbad
By MARTIN WISCKOL | Orange County Register
Concerns over the cost and environmental impacts of desalinated water were overridden by the desire to fortify water supplies when the Orange County Water District board voted 6-2 Wednesday to approve non-binding contract terms with Poseidon, which has spent 20 years on the desalination plant proposal for Huntington Beach.
The plan for the $1 billion plant and water distribution infrastructure would increase the monthly bill for the average residential customer receiving the water by an estimated $3 to $6. It would help ensure the area has water during droughts when supplies from Northern California and the Colorado River are curtailed.
“I’m quite sensitive about the economics of the project but it’s definitely going in the right direction,” said board President Denis Bilodeau, one of several members who cast “Yes” votes.
The board won’t be giving final approval until Poseidon receives its other regulatory approvals.
The company still needs permits from the Regional Water Quality Control Board, which is scheduled to consider the company’s application in December, and the California Coastal Commission, which is expected to take up the issue next year.
But the term sheet approved Wednesday — updating a 2015 agreement — is a key step forward, given concerns expressed over cost, environmental impacts, whether there was a bona fide need for a new water source and whether other alternatives were being pursued aggressively enough.
“This could have really interrupted the momentum of the project if they’d voted against it,” said Mandy Sackett of the Surfrider Foundation. “But there are still significant hurdles.”
Sackett was among 62 public speakers on the issue, with opponents outnumbering supporters 5-1.