For decades, the Wall Street water company, Poseidon Resources, has been attempting to build a poorly designed and unnecessary desalination plant in Huntington Beach. Their plant would discharge toxic brine near surf breaks, create an enormous amount of greenhouse gases and kill billions of marine larvae every day. The plant would also be the first to be permitted under California’s new desalination regulations and would set an unacceptably low standard for interpretation of the new regulations that could be mimicked throughout the state. While desalination may have a time and a place in California, this proposal in Huntington Beach is not the way. We must stand up to Wall Street water companies that are looking to exploit our treasured coast.
We can all agree that California needs affordable, energy efficient and climate resilient water supplies. However, privatized desalination is a bad deal for consumers and we have better, less environmentally damaging options to meet California’s water needs. That’s why we hope you will join the growing opposition to a seawater desalination facility planned in Huntington Beach.
By sending a message to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, you can put California on the right path for the future - and deny this project once and for all! We’ve made it easy by preparing a short statement echoing the message shared by every credible environmental organization and numerous water policy institutions.
Take a stand with us to protect the California Coast from unnecessary harm in Huntington Beach and across the state!
Example email below; customize and send to PoseidonHB.comments@waterboards.ca.gov
Subject line: Opposition to the Permit for Huntington-Poseidon Desalination Plant
Chair William Ruh
Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board
3737 Main Street, Suite 500
Riverside, CA 92501
Via Email: PoseidonHB.comments@waterboards.ca.gov
Dear Chair Ruh,
I am writing in opposition to the Regional Water Board permit for the Huntington Beach - Poseidon Desalination Plant.
Poseidon’s proposed desalination plant would have a disastrous impact on California’s marine life, ocean water quality and greenhouse gas emission goals. The draft Permit disregards the state’s desalination regulations and would set a terrible precedent for future desalination projects. The draft permit holds a private company looking to profit off Californian’s drought fears to an abysmally low standard for the protection of our precious coastal resources.
Since 2010, the residents of Orange County have dramatically reduced our cumulative demand for freshwater – despite significant population and economic growth. The Orange County Water District has expanded Orange County’s world-renowned Groundwater Replenishment System by 30 million gallons a day and is set to expand by that size again soon. Now Los Angeles County is planning a similar Groundwater Replenishment System that will contribute 60 million gallons a day to replenish Orange County’s groundwater basin. Further, a recent study by the Municipal Water District of Orange County ranked Poseidon’s project as the least attractive option for meeting Orange County’s water needs.
California state regulations for seawater desalination require projects to utilize sub-surface intakes to avoid impacts to marine life and to mix the brine with the nearby wastewater discharge before disposal to the ocean. The draft permit does not adequately address the absence of these design features in Poseidon’s proposal. Instead, Poseidon plans to use outdated and harmful technology.
The people of Orange County do not want this project. We do not want to perpetuate the industrialization of our coastline. The people of California own our ocean public trust resources, yet Poseidon proposes to profit from taking seawater and converting it to the most expensive water supply available without showing a need for the water. It is your responsibility to protect our public trust resources. We deserve clean water to recreate in, clean air to breathe and a beautiful coastline to enjoy and share with visitors.
Please stand up to Poseidon and reject the currently proposed draft permit. Poseidon has failed to demonstrate adequate need for this project and we should not undermine our state regulations so that private corporations can exploit and profit off of our coastal resources.
Sincerely,