Huntington Beach Desalination Plant Hearings Expected to Resume in April

HUNTINGTON BEACH—Hearings have been scheduled to resume in April for Poseidon Water’s controversial proposed Huntington Beach desalination plant. Last April the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region was expected to vote on renewing a permit for the proposed $1 billion project but the workshop was canceled due to COVID-19. A hearing scheduled for September was also delayed so Poseidon could have more time to address water board concerns. Hearings have once again been set for April, this time to consider adoption of a tentative order revising the waste discharge requirements of the plant. The exact date of the hearing has not yet been released. The Santa Ana Water Board released the revised tentative order documents on its website on Feb. 12. Revisions include additional restoration at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands and the creation of an artificial reef along the Palos Verdes Peninsula to satisfy the remaining mitigation requirements; inclusion of a finding regarding the human right to water; a revised deadline from three years of the effective date of the order to 18 months for Poseidon to submit the Climate Change Action Plan; among others. Poseidon has also submitted a proposed alternative to the discharge and intake prohibitions for the board to...