On May 12, the California Coastal Commission will consider whether to approve a coastal development permit for the proposed Poseidon desalination plant in Huntington Beach. Its decision, either way, raises important questions about the future of the local water supply.
One controversial aspect of the project is it proposes to use open ocean intake pipes to draw seawater into the plant, utilizing existing cooling intakes of an adjacent power plant that are soon to be put out of commission. As proposed, the project would draw up to 106.7 million gallons per day (mgd) of seawater into the plant, producing up to 50 mgd of freshwater and another 57 mgd of salty brine that would be disposed of through an outfall pipe about 1,500 feet offshore.
The Coastal Commission’s staff recommends commissioners deny the permit, in part because of its impact on marine life, both through its intake and outfall.
In order to comply with the state policy in this respect – minimizing mortality to marine life – Cal Am pursued a desalination project using subsurface slant wells under the beach in Marina, proposing to draw brackish water through the sand. It’s a process far more energy-intensive and expensive than open ocean intake, and which could potentially exacerbate seawater intrusion.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the environmental impact report for Cal Am’s project in 2018, but when it came to the Coastal Commission, its staff twice recommended denying a permit—both in 2019 and 2020—in part because of the potential harm it could cause to local aquifers, and for social justice concerns regarding the water’s cost. (Cal Am withdrew its application before the commissioners voted on it.)
And therein lies a paradox: On one hand, the state is putting a premium on marine life, yet subsurface intake wells – which state policy prefers – are too expensive.
Instead, a cheaper, less energy-intensive project – the recycled water project Pure Water Monterey – is where the money and water ultimately flowed.
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Yet the widespread consensus among local water professionals is that, at some point in the coming years, the region will require a desal project to meet future demand. But given the permitting hurdles, how will that happen? Poseidon’s project was first proposed in 1998 and just now stands on the precipice, 24 years later.
It’s past time to restart the conversation for a regional desal project, looking at all options, including open ocean intake. (During the latter part of the 20th century, hundreds of millions of gallons of seawater were pumped daily into the Moss Landing power plant for cooling purposes through an open intake, concurrent to the ecological resurgence of Monterey Bay.)
We also need to reset our expectations about what we can and cannot save. As climate change bears down, the future will be one of ever-intensifying water scarcity in the West and environmental calamity worldwide, including mass die-offs of marine life.
It’s time to start seeing the forest, not just the trees – or in this case, the larvae and plankton.
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Correction 5/11/22: The print version of this story inaccurately stated the Coastal Commission denied a permit for Cal Am’s proposed desalination project in 2019; Cal Am ultimately withdrew its application before the commissioners voted on it.
