Surfrider Sues Coastal Commission Over Illegal Desalination Plant Approval

As you may have heard, Surfrider announced on January 14th that we filed suit against the California Coastal Commission (CCC) for inappropriately granting a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) to Poseidon Resources for its proposed Carlsbad desalination facility. The lawsuit alleges the CCC acted prematurely, without fully understanding the environmental impacts of the project or how such impacts would ultimately be mitigated.

The California Coastal Act requires Poseidon to minimize marine life impacts through the use of the "best technology available" for producing potable water from seawater. Surfrider and lawsuit partner Planning and Conservation League contend Poseidon's analysis of alternatives to the project's current design have either not been sufficiently vetted, or simply have not been made public. Because Poseidon seeks to take advantage of highly damaging seawater intake infrastructure currently being used by the Encina Power Plant, and the power plant is in the process of abandoning the intake technology altogether, Surfrider's suit seeks to force Poseidon to assess the impacts of its facility as a "stand-alone" project.

Unless and until the public and decisionmakers are fully aware of the devastating marine life mortality likely to occur from long term operation of the proposed project, the true cost of Poseidon's proposal cannot be determined. The lawsuit rejects the notion that production of water can only be had at the expense of invaluable coastal resources.

Surfrider readily admits the San Diego region is in the midst of a serious water crisis, and development of a local drought-proof water supply is of utmost importance. However, Surfrider advocates for an integrated water management plan, one which appropriately considers environmental impacts, and does not solve one problem by creating another. In addition to marine life concerns, the current design of the desalination plant is extremely energy-intensive and will release huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thus contributing to Global Warming and further exacerbating our water shortages. With consequences such as these, ocean desalination is not the "endless supply of water" as Poseidon claims.

While Surfrider does not oppose desalination technology in general and believes it may one day serve as an important part of our water supply, its time has not yet come. San Diego should first exhaust conservation efforts – specifically outdoor irrigation conservation -- and water recycling. Both options are much less energy intensive and will result in discharge of far fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Once environmentally superior options are implemented, only then should desalination be considered viable, and then only if coupled with an appropriate seawater intake system. Numerous proposals for desalination plants collocated with existing power plants are making their ways through the regulatory process. Because Poseidon's is the first to be considered, it must set a high bar for environmental sustainability.