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[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 8/28/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

August 28, 2008

 

2. Supply –

 

 

EDITORIAL: Desalination plant should be first of many

OUR VIEW: OK of water conversion plant right step

By: North County Times Opinion staff

 

With the governmental challenges cleared, we look forward to the beginning of construction of North County's first desalination plant and offer our hopes it will not be the last.

On Friday, the California State Lands Commission gave its blessing to the proposed $300 million project advanced by Poseidon Resources for Carlsbad's Agua Hedionda Lagoon, adjacent to the existing Encina power plant. The lands-panel's approval was the last regulatory OK needed for construction to begin.

Poseidon hopes to break ground within months and has a tentative date of 2011 to have the plant converting seawater into drinking water at a rate of about 50 million gallons a day; about 9 percent of the county's current needs.

Legal challenges are being threatened  by some environmental groups; the Carlsbad plant is the first of several proposed at Southern California sites, including San Onofre and Dana Point. While desalination is relatively new to California, according to Reuters there are 22,000 such plants in 120 countries worldwide producing about 3 billion gallons of drinking water a day.

Water, food and energy are the challenges that await us all as we look at what kind of a world we will leave our children. And our area's lack of water is self-evident.

Innovative ideas should be welcomed, and converting seawater to fresh drinking water should be embraced within them. Thus we trust any lawsuits will be quickly dispatched.

The lands commission's action was the right decision at the right time.

All residents should look forward to seeing the Carlsbad facility in full operation; and we hope it is rapidly joined with other similar conversion plants.#

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/08/27/opinion/editorials/doc48b5841a99098674917789.txt

 

 

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