Carlsbad, CA – On the eve of the Carlsbad Desalination Project’s hearing before the State Lands Commission, seawater desalination opponents have been dealt another defeat in their repeated attempts to derail the project.

Opponents to the Carlsbad Desalination Project have a long and unsuccessful history of filing legal challenges and appealing project permit approvals. In 2006, the Southern California Watershed Alliance and an organization calling itself the Desal Response Group filed a lawsuit in Superior Court to overturn the City of Carlsbad’s 2006 certification of the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR). That lawsuit was dismissed.

In August 2006, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) approved a discharge permit for the Carlsbad facility. The Surfrider Foundation and Coastkeeper appealed the decision to the State Water Resources Control Board. In June 2007, the State Water Resources Control Board rejected the permit appeal.

In May 2008, twenty months after the Regional Board voted unanimously to approve a water discharge permit for Carlsbad Desalination Project, the Board voted again to approved a key permit condition. The Surfrider Foundation again appealed the Regional Board’s decision to the State Water Resources Control Board.

In response, the State Water Resources Control Board issued an August 19, 2008 ruling that the appeal filed by the Surfrider Foundation "fails to raise substantial issues that are appropriate for review by the State Water Resources Control Board."  Read the letter's contents by clicking on the following link:  State Water Board Ltr 081908

"The legal and policy arguments made by opponents to seawater desalination have been rejected by every permitting and regulatory agency and court of law that has reviewed the Carlsbad Desalination Project," said Poseidon Vice President Scott Maloni. "After five years of failed attempts to stop the project at every step of the way, opponents to seawater desalination must face reality. Their tactics have turned obstructionist and are an affront to the public interest," said Maloni.

Poseidon has worked in partnership with the City of Carlsbad since 1998 to build the desalination plant, which will have a capacity to produce 50-million-gallons-per-day of high quality drinking water and serve 300,000 residents annually. Approval on Friday, August 22, 2008 by the State Lands Commission will bring to a close the project’s five-year permitting process, which started in 2003. The construction of the Carlsbad Desalination Project is on schedule to begin during the first half of 2009 and the plant will be operational in 2011.

Poseidon Resources specializes in developing and financing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the Carlsbad desalination plant visit our website at www.carlsbad-desal.com.