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

Parched for Water — Controversial Southern California Desalination Pilot Projects

January 4th, 2012 | Natural Resources News Service | | 3 comments

King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, California.
King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, California.

Tucked behind the northeast corner of King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, California, there is a $10 million experiment taking place over how best to turn the salt water of the Pacific Ocean into drinkable tap water.

The demo plant here represents the second of two pilot projects – the other one previously in El Segundo began 10 years ago and has since been concluded. The two pilots have cost at least $18 million. A review of board meeting documents by the nonprofit Desal Response Group reveal more than $23 million in construction and consulting services since 2006 related to the development of these two pilot projects.

Out of more than a dozen water agencies in California thinking about building a full-scale ocean desalination facility, none have spent as much time and money on demonstration projects than the West Basin Municipal Water District in Southern California. Continue reading Parched for Water — Controversial Southern California Desalination Pilot Projects