Mid-drought, California Coastal Commission Rejects Desalination Plant

The California Coastal Commission (CCC) voted Thursday to reject plans for a desalination plant in Orange County, despite the fact that the state is running out of water in the midst of a drought that has highlighted the need for new water supplies.

As Breitbart News reported last month, CCC staff had already recommended against the plant, citing various environmental concerns, though desalination’s only direct impact is the creation of ultra-salty brine that is returned to the vast Pacific Ocean.

And as Breitbart News noted in 2018, the Poseidon desalination plant in Carlsbad, California, “has provided some 43 billion gallons of water since [2015]. Its daily output can support 400,000 households, and supplies 10% of San Diego’s needs.”

In this case, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was, perhaps surprisingly, on the side of the desalination project, but the CCC rejected the plan — patly to demonstrate that it was politically independent of the governor’s office, as the Los Angeles Times reported – READ MORE