Daniel Trotta

COSTA MESA (California) – California regulators will decide whether they approve a $1.4 billion project to turn seawater into drinking water. The plan is billed as a solution for a prolonged drought, which threatens California’s economic well-being.

California Coastal Commission will decide the fate for Huntington Beach’s desalination plants. They must consider whether an expert recommends to terminate the project or whether Governor Gavin Newsom wants to allow it. After a conference in a Costa Mesa hotel room, the vote will be held.

Poseidon Water (a Poseidon Water subsidiary of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management) proposed the plant. The plant would produce enough Pacific Ocean water in order to supply drinking water for around 400,000 people. However, staff from the Coastal Commission stated that the process could harm the marine environment and the habitat of nearby birds while also producing high-quality water for those with low incomes.

According to the staff’s recommendation, denial was also recommended. The plant is vulnerable to flooding caused by rising sea levels due human-induced climate change.

The plant has been opposed by environmentalists for many years. They claim that desalination is harmful to the ocean, consumes too much energy and money, and will soon be replaced with water recycling.

Newsom spoke for the project just days after his staff recommendation was published. According to Newsom, California’s droughts have been severe in California for seven consecutive years.

California’s vibrant economy of $3 trillion has been affected by drought. The most immediate impact is on the $50 billion agricultural industry. However, it also affects energy production, tourism, and other aspects.

Newsom is running for reelection in California this year. With the drought in California’s minds, Newsom appoints four members to the Commission and has the right to remove any of them.

Poseidon campaigned for Huntington Beach’s construction since 1995. It is located about 30 to 50 miles (30 km) from Los Angeles. Poseidon claims that it has invested more than $100 millions in this project.

Poseidon, which has operated an identical plant since 2015 down the coast of Carlsbad, is the United States’ largest.

Carlsbad’s project converts ocean water into drinking water within 90 minutes. It was constructed on higher ground and approved by the state before desalination plant regulations were implemented.

It is believed that rejecting the plant will be “death knell” for California’s desalination industry.