In Search of a Drought-Proof Source - The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century - page 291

described the brine as “like the blood of the creature in Alien—it'll eat through any-
thing. The desalinators don't know how to get rid of it, and they don't want to talk about
it.”
At the Carlsbad plant, the plan is to mix the brine with seawater discharging from
the Encina Power Station and pump it offshore; Pacific wind, tide, and currents will mix
and diffuse the brine, MacLaggan said. “A thousand feet offshore, we will get [the brine
salts] down to thirty-six parts per thousand. By the time it reaches the kelp beds two
thousand feet offshore, it's down to thirty-four parts per thousand. It quickly dissipates.
The impact on the marine environment will be de minimis.”
Surfers, fishermen, and environmentalists don't buy the argument. The Surfrider
Foundation has filed several lawsuits to stop Poseidon, claiming that the Carlsbad pro-
ject would “kill everything that floats,” in the words of Surfrider's Joe Geever—including
the garibaldi, the state marine fish—and that it is not required to use the best water-in-
take technology available.
In 2009, the state's coastal commissioners overrode their staff scientists and approved
Poseidon's permit, albeit with a list of twenty conditions attached. After a decade of
contentious debate, which included fourteen public hearings and five revisions to the
plan, the Carlsbad plant cleared its inal regulatory hurdle when the San Diego Regional
Water Quality Board unanimously approved permits for the Carlsbad desalter. Envir-
onmental groups have vowed to keep fighting the Carlsbad project and a sister plant
in Huntington Beach, just south of Los Angeles. MacLaggan says that the fight over
the Huntington plant has been even more vituperative than the one in Carlsbad. But as
wildfires raged and the public worried about drought, Governor Schwarzenegger said
of desalination, “ We need it . It's not a choice,” and in 2009 he green-lit both Poseidon
projects.
By late 2010, the company had all its permits for Carlsbad in place when a deal for
nine cities and agencies to buy its water fell apart over the issue of financial guarantees.
The San Diego County Water Authority, a water wholesaler, stepped in. But the city of
Carlsbad balked and demanded a guarantee that it wouldn't lose money. As of this writ-
ing, Poseidon is negotiating with the county and is preparing to offer at least $530 mil-
lion in tax-exempt bonds to private investors in 2011 to finance construction.
It remains to be seen whether the two plants will be built, and, if they are, how that will
impact numerous other desalination projects proposed across the country.
Herb Guenther in Phoenix and Pat Mulroy in Las Vegas predict that a greater use
of desal in America is “inevitable.” But with the enormous costs to build and operate a
plant, the politics of desalination, and the energy and environmental hurdles, it won't be
easy. Some of the more ambitious programs require the use of nuclear power, which will