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RWQCB votes to approve Poseidon but with conditions.

• R4RD is not happy with yesterday’s Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) hearing. But we will keep at it. The upcoming Coastal Commission hearing will be Poseidon’s biggest hurdle.
  During yesterday’s RWQCB hearing the board members spent a great deal of time wrestling with the fact, among its many other problems, Poseidon desal proponents are unreliable and you can’t trust them.
  Therefore, while the RWQCB did approve Poseidon’s permits, they did put some pre-project conditions in place.
  You probably know this already, but Poseidon has been pulling water and marine life out of the ocean in the Carlsbad area for nearly 6 years but has done next to none of the environmental mitigation they were required to do. Therefore, in Huntington Beach, Poseidon can only move forward after they design the bulk of their mitigation and bring it back for approval by the RWQCB. Only then can Posiedon begin to discharge wastewater into the ocean.
  That is weaker than the original proposal from the RWQCB staff which was to prohibit the company from polluting local waters at all until mitigation fully nailed down. And far weaker than Ocean Plan guidelines designed to assure marine life is adequately protected. However, Poseidon objected to those provisions saying they would kill the project then used political pressure to get what they wanted, which was easier permit conditions.
  There are some really good articles about the meeting’s outcome in the Los Angeles Times, Voice of OC, and Orange County Register that do a good job of summarizing the hearing and I urge you to take a moment to read them. And don’t despair and don’t give up. Trust us when I tell you that corrupt politically driven projects like Poseidon aren’t easy to defeat but they can be defeated. The next step is an appeal to the State Water Board, then Poseidon has to go back to the State Lands Commission.
  Poseidon also must face the Coastal Commission, which has indicated they want much more mitigation (mitigation that Poseidon says will kill the project) and will closely examine the many problems with Poseidon’s proposed site including earthquake faults, flooding, and sea-level rise.
  And there will be lawsuits that will further delay Poseidon and make their Ponzi scheme even less certain.
  It’s not easy facing down a multi-national corporation whose interest in our coast is to exploit and profit from it. But with your help, we have kept Poseidon out of our community and off our coast for over 15 years. We just have to keep at it and we will.

Poseidon Briefing featuring former HB Mayor Debbie Cook

• Debbie Cook will be reviewing the problems with Poseidon and the specific harm it will do to the local Huntington Beach community….and coast.

  When: Monday, April 12th at 7:00 PM
  Where: Remotely (ZOOM)
  Why: To learn the details about how Poseidon threatens our community and coast
  Email firoozeh@coastkeeper.org to RSVP and for a link to attend the meeting.

Local and Environmental Opposition To Desal Plant Ignored

• With no buyer for its water after 21 years, Governor Newsom joins Poseidon Partners in ignoring local and environmental opposition to the risky and destructive HB desalination project. Read the LA Times article for details here.

Regulators Acknowledge Likely Impropriety

• Santa Ana Water Quality Control Board member, Letitia Clark, who was recently appointed in a controversial move by Governor Newsome, was forced to acknowledge possible illegal discussions with pro-Poseidon supporters before she was appointed. Details and opportunities for public comments can be found here.

Regulators Illegally Contacted

• OCR published an article by Martin Wisckol about an illegal action by a pro-Poseidon Newsom appointee with the goal of influencing regulators to approve the costly and controversial HB desalination project. The full article can be found here.

Governor and Poseidon

• Garry Brown has a great opinion article regarding Governor Newsom’s support of Poseidon verses his Water Resilience Portfolio. Article can be found here.

Poseidon Delays Again

• Poseidon’s poor management happens again. Poseidon asks the Regional Water Board to hold off on addressing their permit. See the press release here.

Poseidon needs current OCWD board members.

• Martin Wisckol article in OCR highlights that making sure two OCWD board members remain is the only way for the desal plant to go through.

Reasons To Oppose Desal

• • 

Reasons to Stop Poseidon

• Ray Hiemstra wrote this great article for Sierra Club about why Poseidon does not make sense. He also requests everyone go to the campaign site and plan to participate at the July 31 hearing. 

Newsom and Support of Poseidon

• Alejandro Sobrera has a great article about Governor Newsom and why it seems contrary to his goals. Article can be read here.

Timeline of Newsom and Poseidon

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Status In Carlsbad

• Great presentation to the CCC by Mandy Sackett

SD Desal Lesson to OC

• Marco Gonzalez has a great commentary in the SD Union Tribune.

  You don’t have to look too far for proof that Poseidon will be an unreliable partner.

California Could Have Stored Abundant Water Underground

• Newsdeeply has a great article about storing water during rainy years.  See it here.

  California has much more potential to store water underground in aquifers than in surface reservoirs. The state should be focused on this opportunity for future years, writes scientist Mohammad Safeeq.

Future of Desal in CA

• Interesting Article by Tony Davis.

  The future of coastal desalination in California could be determined by the decision on permits for a plant in Huntington Beach

The Ocean Isn’t the Answer in California

• Justin Fox posted an article on Bloomberg View about why desal does not make sense.

  Whenever there’s a drought in California, a seemingly obvious source of new water supply beckons. The state abuts a giant ocean. Why not just take the salt out of some of that seawater? It’s the high-tech, forward-looking thing to do, right? It’s also the really expensive thing to do.

  Read more here.

New Stanford Report: Desal Location is Key

• New Report from Stanford highlights the imports that the location of a desalination plant is critical for its overall success.  Key among these are:

  1. Easy access to renewable engine
  2. Ability to use subsurface intake
  3. Availability of other water supplies

  Article can be found here.

Managing Drought: Learning from Australia

• A new report shows strategies developed and mistakes made during Australia’s decade-long millennium drought provide a powerful resource for California, as the state enters its fifth year of severe drought.  The report can be found here.

South OC has little demand for Desal Water

• South Orange County has to import most of their water, but not too interested in expensive desal water.  Orange County Water District General Manager Michael Markus said the South Coast Water District plans to build a plant at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point that was expected to produce 15 million gallons of desalinated water per day.  However, Kennedy said
  

  [Doheny Desal] expected production was cut to 5 million gallons per day because of a lack of interest from surrounding water agencies

  The LA Times article can be found here.