Poseidon Resources’s Private, For-Profit California Desalination Projects Face Challenges on Two Fronts

June 4th, 2012 | Natural Resources News Service | | Leave a comment

A sea lion on buoy number 14 in San Diego Bay

San Diego Water Board Still Weighing Options Over Desal

After more than a decade spent talking about building a large-scale ocean desalination plant in Carlsbad, California, the private equity firm proposing to finance the project has one last hurdle to overcome: It needs someone to agree to buy the water.

Poseidon Resources has put forth several iterations over the years of its proposed plant in San Diego County, expected to produce up to 50 million gallons of freshwater daily. In one attempt, Poseidon inked agreements with local water agencies claiming it could sell water at no greater cost than imported water supplies.

But investors and members of the San Diego County Water Authority, both of whom Poseidon needs for support, balked at the claim and those agreements were scrapped. Continue reading Poseidon Resources’s Private, For-Profit California Desalination Projects Face Challenges on Two Fronts

Ocean Desal Backers Exaggerate Permit Burden

May 29th, 2012 | Natural Resources News Service | | 3 comments
Photo: Poseidon Resources
Photo: Poseidon Resources

Opposition calls their claims grossly inaccurate

Supporters of ocean desalination in California commonly lament the numerous permits required in this state to build a plant capable of converting seawater into drinkable tap water.

In late April, backers of a bill to create a state task force with the goal of streamlining the process claimed desalination plants require up to 30 permits in California to gain approval.

“With 30 permitting steps, these are overlapping and confusing requirements,” Rep. Isadore Hall (D-Los Angeles), chief sponsor of Assembly Bill 2595, told state representatives in the Committee on Natural Resources in Sacramento. Continue reading Ocean Desal Backers Exaggerate Permit Burden