LOS ANGELES — A coalition comprised of businesses, labor union, community groups and non-profits came out in favor of a term sheet between an Orange County water board and Poseidon Water, a significant step forward on plans to build a desalination plant in Huntington Beach, Calif.
The board is slated to vote on the term sheet at its April 30 meeting.
Under the terms of the draft agreement released this week, the Orange County Water District would purchase 50 million gallons of water each day from Poseidon’s planned desalination facility in Huntington Beach.
The coalition Orange County Water Independence, Sustainability and Efficiency Coalition (OC WISE) is urging OCWD to approve the terms of the agreement as soon as possible.
“The Huntington Beach Desalination project provides Orange County with water independence by reducing the amount of water it needs to import today regardless of water demand projections,” said OC WISE executive director Robert Sulnick. “Our strong coalition believes that the affordable water supplied by the Poseidon project would substantially alleviate the County’s projected water needs well into the future.”
The OCWD term sheet significantly mitigates risk to the district from the financing and building of the distributions system, and OCWD has no obligation to purchase water unless Poseidon delivers a reliable water source to the county water district. Poseidon would be responsible for permitting, financing, designing, constructing, and operating the desalination plant under the term sheet, according to Poseidon.
“This term sheet is a good deal for Orange County,” said Jerry Wheeler, President/CEO of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce & OC WISE executive committee member. “OCWD further reduces its reliance on imported water that continues to be challenged by drought, environmental restrictions, agricultural needs, competition and aging infrastructure.” Scott Maloni, a Poseidon vice president, lauded the water board the community for supporting the project, particularly given the news of the state’s ongoing drought.
“The news regarding California’s drought and water shortages is only getting worse by the day, but fortunately, Orange County is taking proactive steps to ensure they have a drought-proof and independent local water supply for generations,” Maloni said.
