Coastal Commission reaffirms Carlsbad desalination permit

By a 9:3 majority, the California Coastal Commissioners on 10 December 2009 voted to dismiss the request to revoke the Carlsbad Desalination Project’s Coastal Development Permit (CDP).

The vote was identical to the commission’s original vote to approve the permit in November 2007.

The Carlsbad project involves a public-private partnership between Poseidon Resources, the City of Carlsbad and eight other public water agencies to construct a 50 MGD (189,000 m³/d) seawater desalination facility.

Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Coastkeeper and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation filed a joint request for revocation of Poseidon’s permit application. This was the tenth failed attempt to delay the project.