Friday May 13, 2022
CNN —
As California battles a historic drought and a water crisis looms, the state’s coastline protection agency on Thursday unanimously rejected the development of a $1.4 billion desalination plant in Huntington Beach that would have converted ocean water into municipal water for Orange County residents.
Eleven members of the California Coastal Commission voted against the facility, which water treatment developer Poseidon Water has been trying to build for decades.
Poseidon said the plant would be capable of producing up to 50 million gallons of drinking water a day, helping to make the region more drought resilient.
The commission, which is charged with “protecting and enhancing” the state’s extensive coastline, heard public comments on the project throughout the day Thursday, with a majority of speakers opposing it. Others who expressed concern about a lack of water resources in the future argued that, whenever possible, additional water resources should be developed.