WATER: Desal plant challenge defeated, hearing today
By BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer | ∞
CARLSBAD ---- A legal challenge to a proposed desalination plant in Carlsbad was rejected by the State Water Resources Control Board this week. The decision comes as the plant's builder, Poseidon Resources Corp., seeks final regulatory approval from a different state agency.
The legal petition by the Surfrider Foundation said plans to minimize environmental damage the plant would cause were insufficient. But on Aug. 19, the board dismissed the petition.
Deborah A. Sivas, the attorney representing Surfrider in the matter, said the group hadn't yet decided its next step.
Poseidon and the Surfrider likely will clash again Friday during a State Lands Commission hearing. The commission is scheduled to vote on a lease agreement that will allow the plant to operate. This vote would be the last regulatory approval required of Poseidon. The Stamford, Conn.-based company has said that assuming approval, it would begin raising money and start building the plant in the first half of 2009.
The $300 million plant would be capable of making 50 million gallons of fresh water a day from seawater, about 9 percent of the county's total water consumption.
Supporters say it will provide reliable water to the drought-plagued area. Opponents say the plant, to be located next to Agua Hedionda lagoon, would cause too much damage to the environment.
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