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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In the midst of an historic drought, where cities have had to impose limits on water use, a California panel charged with protecting the state's coastline voted unanimously to deny a permit for a proposed $1.4 billion water desalination project.
A spokesperson for the developer, Poseidon Water (Boston, Massachusetts), a unit of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (Toronto, Ontario), said "there's no path forward for the project," which has been under development for nearly two decades. On May 12, the California Coastal Commission (San Francisco, California) voted 11-0, with one abstention, to deny a permit for the proposed Huntington Beach Desalination Facility.
The Huntington Beach project would have produced about 50 million gallons of fresh water a day for 400,000 customers across Orange County, California. Adding desalinated water to Orange County's water portfolio would have reduced the region's use of imported water and freed up water for other inland communities.
In voting to deny the proposed facility a permit, commissioners noted that desalination projects are very electricity-intensive, and the potential for increased water rates, in the range of $3 to $5 per month, would place an unacceptable financial burden on low-income customers. Commissioners emphasized they were not against all desalination projects, just this one.
Prior to the CCC vote, Poseidon Water had said the facility could be online by 2023.
The Golden State is in the midst of a drought, called a mega-drought by some. The first three months of the year were the driest on record. The governor last summer asked municipalities to reduce water use by 15%. Some municipalities complied over the winter months, but as spring began, water use actually increased over the 2020 baseline. The state's largest water reservoirs have fallen so low that they are not generating electricity. Only emergency measures by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation elevated water levels at large reservoirs outside California, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, so they could continue to generate electricity and send some water to a parched California. Further water-use restrictions in California appear to be inevitable.
The proposed Huntington Beach project has passionate detractors and supporters. The supporters emphasized the need for additional fresh water resources. The opponents said other means, such as water recycling and conservation programs, were cheaper ways to achieve the same end--providing enough water for southern California.
The opponents also said drawing in large amounts of ocean water and releasing salty discharge back into the ocean would kill billions of tiny marine organisms that make up the base of the food chain along a large swath of the coast.
"The ocean is under attack" from climate change already, Commissioner Dayna Bochco said. "I cannot say in good conscience that this amount of damage is OK." She added that she agreed with the CCC staff's findings and that the effects on marine life would be "an incredible amount of destruction."
Other commissioners had different reasons for opposing the project. Before casting her vote, CCC Vice Chair Caryl Hart said the project raised several concerns: "This desal proposal is privatization of water. It provides a large private profit." In addition, building this facility atop an earthquake fault was ill-advised. Finally, noting that Poseidon Water did not have a signed contract for the desalinated water, Hart said of the project: "It would harm the public welfare."
A third commissioner, Meagan Harmon, said the project would have a "disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable. "I wish that I didn't have to take this vote. I'm not opposed to desalination," Harmon said.
The CCC staff's draft recommendation did not say the that the project is "un-approvable," nor that it is completely against desalination. Its report said: "Staff acknowledge the need to develop new, reliable sources of water in southern California, and believe that well-planned and sited desalination facilities will likely play a role in providing these supplies."
On May 9, after seeing a CCC staff recommendation against the project but before the CCC voted, Orange County Water District President Steve Sheldon issued an angry statement: "The Coastal Commission staff report and recommendation reek of bias. Parts of the report are false and misleading, other parts are contradictory, scientifically unsound, defy common sense, and conflict with the findings of other environmental regulatory agencies that have approved the project."
Sheldon noted that Governor Gavin Newsom supported the project, as did the leader of the state senate.
After the May 13 vote, Poseidon Water issued this statement: "This was not the decision we were hoping for today. We thank Governor Gavin Newsom for his support of this project, correctly pointing out that desalination is an important tool in the toolkit. We believe in the governor's vision and his water resilience portfolio, which identified the goal of maintaining and diversifying water supplies."
"California continues to face a punishing drought, with no end in sight," the statement continued. "The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California recently called for the strictest-ever water cuts in the region. Lake Mead and Lake Powell are expected to continue receding in the coming months, potentially triggering water cuts in Arizona, Nevada and Mexico--and ultimately California. Every day, we see new calls for conservation as reservoir levels drop to dangerous lows. We firmly believe that this desalination project would have created a sustainable, drought-tolerant source of water for Orange County, just as it has for San Diego County."
Given unanimous CCC opposition to the proposed Huntington Beach project, it's hard to see how it could ever be built--even if Poseidon Water could sell it to another developer.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
A spokesperson for the developer, Poseidon Water (Boston, Massachusetts), a unit of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, L.P. (NYSE:BIP) (Toronto, Ontario), said "there's no path forward for the project," which has been under development for nearly two decades. On May 12, the California Coastal Commission (San Francisco, California) voted 11-0, with one abstention, to deny a permit for the proposed Huntington Beach Desalination Facility.
The Huntington Beach project would have produced about 50 million gallons of fresh water a day for 400,000 customers across Orange County, California. Adding desalinated water to Orange County's water portfolio would have reduced the region's use of imported water and freed up water for other inland communities.
In voting to deny the proposed facility a permit, commissioners noted that desalination projects are very electricity-intensive, and the potential for increased water rates, in the range of $3 to $5 per month, would place an unacceptable financial burden on low-income customers. Commissioners emphasized they were not against all desalination projects, just this one.
Prior to the CCC vote, Poseidon Water had said the facility could be online by 2023.
The Golden State is in the midst of a drought, called a mega-drought by some. The first three months of the year were the driest on record. The governor last summer asked municipalities to reduce water use by 15%. Some municipalities complied over the winter months, but as spring began, water use actually increased over the 2020 baseline. The state's largest water reservoirs have fallen so low that they are not generating electricity. Only emergency measures by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation elevated water levels at large reservoirs outside California, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, so they could continue to generate electricity and send some water to a parched California. Further water-use restrictions in California appear to be inevitable.
The proposed Huntington Beach project has passionate detractors and supporters. The supporters emphasized the need for additional fresh water resources. The opponents said other means, such as water recycling and conservation programs, were cheaper ways to achieve the same end--providing enough water for southern California.
The opponents also said drawing in large amounts of ocean water and releasing salty discharge back into the ocean would kill billions of tiny marine organisms that make up the base of the food chain along a large swath of the coast.
"The ocean is under attack" from climate change already, Commissioner Dayna Bochco said. "I cannot say in good conscience that this amount of damage is OK." She added that she agreed with the CCC staff's findings and that the effects on marine life would be "an incredible amount of destruction."
Other commissioners had different reasons for opposing the project. Before casting her vote, CCC Vice Chair Caryl Hart said the project raised several concerns: "This desal proposal is privatization of water. It provides a large private profit." In addition, building this facility atop an earthquake fault was ill-advised. Finally, noting that Poseidon Water did not have a signed contract for the desalinated water, Hart said of the project: "It would harm the public welfare."
A third commissioner, Meagan Harmon, said the project would have a "disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable. "I wish that I didn't have to take this vote. I'm not opposed to desalination," Harmon said.
The CCC staff's draft recommendation did not say the that the project is "un-approvable," nor that it is completely against desalination. Its report said: "Staff acknowledge the need to develop new, reliable sources of water in southern California, and believe that well-planned and sited desalination facilities will likely play a role in providing these supplies."
On May 9, after seeing a CCC staff recommendation against the project but before the CCC voted, Orange County Water District President Steve Sheldon issued an angry statement: "The Coastal Commission staff report and recommendation reek of bias. Parts of the report are false and misleading, other parts are contradictory, scientifically unsound, defy common sense, and conflict with the findings of other environmental regulatory agencies that have approved the project."
Sheldon noted that Governor Gavin Newsom supported the project, as did the leader of the state senate.
After the May 13 vote, Poseidon Water issued this statement: "This was not the decision we were hoping for today. We thank Governor Gavin Newsom for his support of this project, correctly pointing out that desalination is an important tool in the toolkit. We believe in the governor's vision and his water resilience portfolio, which identified the goal of maintaining and diversifying water supplies."
"California continues to face a punishing drought, with no end in sight," the statement continued. "The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California recently called for the strictest-ever water cuts in the region. Lake Mead and Lake Powell are expected to continue receding in the coming months, potentially triggering water cuts in Arizona, Nevada and Mexico--and ultimately California. Every day, we see new calls for conservation as reservoir levels drop to dangerous lows. We firmly believe that this desalination project would have created a sustainable, drought-tolerant source of water for Orange County, just as it has for San Diego County."
Given unanimous CCC opposition to the proposed Huntington Beach project, it's hard to see how it could ever be built--even if Poseidon Water could sell it to another developer.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
