Huntington Beach SWRO is a Trump priority

Poseidon Water’s proposed mega desalination plant at Huntington Beach, California, has been named as one of US President Trump’s top 50 priority infrastructure projects in a document purportedly leaked by Trump’s transition team.

The priority list, entitled Emergency & National Security Projects, details 50 projects totalling $137.5 billion in infrastructure spending, of which 50 per cent is slated to come from the private sector.

The Huntington Beach Desalination Plant project, listed at number 44, is described as “a cost-effective, environmentally sensitive solution to provide a safe and reliable water supply to Orange County residents and has the potential to bring significant economic benefits for the city of Huntington Beach and the region.” The document pegs the project’s cost at $350 million, and the number of direct jobs that it could create at 400.

Poseidon Water is currently progressing through a complex permissions process for the proposed 50 million gallons a day (227,000 m3/d) capacity seawater desalination plant.

Increased investment in infrastructure projects designed to boost economic growth and employment was among President Trump’s key campaign pledges. The leaked document estimates the number of “direct job years” created by the 50 projects would be 193,350, and “indirect job years” 241,700.