The San Diego County Water Authority in California formally announced on 25 August 2011 that it had reached agreement with the City of Carlsbad to begin negotiating with Poseidon Resources for purchasing water from the Carlsbad Desalination Project.
“This is a great step forward for our region and for Carlsbad,” said Michael T Hogan, SDCWA chair. “We cooperatively found a way to keep making progress on this project for our region’s future water supply reliability, while addressing Carlsbad’s unique role as the project’s host city.”
Matt Hall, mayor of the city of Carlsbad, said the agreement balances the interests of both public agencies.
“This agreement protects the integrity of financial and other commitments made by Poseidon Resources to the citizens of Carlsbad, while enabling the Water Authority to properly protect the region’s water ratepayers,” Hall said.
The Carlsbad Desalination Project, which has been in development since 1998 and has obtained all required permits and environmental clearances, will be the first large-scale seawater desalination plant in California. When completed, it will produce 189,000 m³/d of reliable water annually – enough to meet the needs of more than 110,000 average single-family households. In 2020, water from the plant would account for about 8% of the total regional supply.