OCWD blocks study of alternatives to Poseidon, misleading State Lands Commission.

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by John Earl, for Surf City Voice.

Representatives of the Orange County Water District gave false information at a public hearing of the California State Lands Commission to push a proposed $1 billion ocean desalination plant closer to final approval.

The OCWD manages the Santa Ana River Basin and provides north Orange County with 75 percent of its water.

The developer, Poseidon Resources, wants to build the desal plant on state-owned coastal land in southeast Huntington Beach. The plant would produce about 56,000 acre-feet of drinking water from local seawater per year under a 30 to 50-year take-or-pay contract with the OCWD.

The hearing was held in Huntington Beach last October 19. The SLC approved a supplemental Environmental Impact Report for the project and extended Poseidon’s 2010 lease with minor changes until 2025.

OCWD Board of Directors  Dina Nguyen, Cathy Green, Shawn Dewane, Steven Sheldon, with president Denis Bilodeau speaking on their behalf, claimed that the board studied the project alternatives and that there is a demonstrated need for the project:

“I guess what I’m looking for,” Commissioner Betty Yee asked, skeptically, “is have you fully considered all these [alternatives] before really looking at the water to be produced by the site, which is obviously going to be the most expensive?”

“Uh, yes. We certainly have,” Bilodeau assured. “Really, the only opportunity we have besides Poseidon is the expansion of the Groundwater Replenishment System [the District’s sewage recycling plant],” he claimed.

Yee pressed harder.

What’s missing, she said, “is the analysis of these alternative water sources as compared to what would be produced by the Poseidon facility.”

Then, Yee got to the heart of the matter:

“And it’s a little hard to figure out whether the Poseidon water that would be produced is really more – I’ll use the word arbitrary – with respect to a desire to replace imported water as compared to really being integral to meeting the overall water needs.”

Bilodeau: “Well, again, we have looked at all of the” –

Yee: “Or discretionary.”

Bilodeau: “Yeah. I mean, we are obviously looking at all of our alternatives.”

But the OCWD Board of Directors has all but officially backed the project since 2013, working intimately and secretly with Poseidon to see it through every stage of the permitting process…

(read the rest of the article at Surf City Voice)

Just SOME of our Previous Coverage of Poseidon:

• HB Council Respectfully Asks Coastal Commission to Shitcan Poseidon.  (July 2013)
• Poseidon Runs Headlong into Infiltration Gallery (report on Nov 2013 Coastal Commission hearing)
• Poseidon’s Water Boy: Matt Harper Quietly Pushes Desal Scam Past Ratepayers.  (May 2014)
• OCWD’s Sheldon Clams Up on Poseidon Vote, Flory Shakes Things Up!  (June 2014)
• Who owns the OCWD, you or Poseidon? YOU DO! Remind them, tonight!  (June 2014)
• Unpacking Poseidon’s Latest Propaganda Blitz with Debbie Cook. Pt 1: The CNN Puff Piece.  (June 2014)
• Recent Poseidon-Probolsky Push-Poll Threatens Candidates and Misleads Voters.  (Nov. 2014)
• Sheldon’s Unethical Culture Challenged by Legal Complaint (Dec. 2014)
• Poseidon & OCWD Bring their Snake-Oil Show to the Pumpers Tomorrow (Dec. 2014)
• Surfin’ Sheldon, Little Lost Dina, Righteous Flory – What You’ve Been Missing at OCWD!  (Jan. 2015)
• Poseidon Update: OCWD “just sticks the tip in…” (Jan. 2015)
• Sheldon Says “Suck it Surf City!” The Poseidon Shill is also Behind our High Density Development.  (Feb. 2015)
• OCWD’s Forecast for the Future: Cloudy with a Huge Chance of Error.  (March 2015)
• Pat Bates Baits Us with Bogus Doomsday Drought Scenario.  (March 2015)
• Swan Song for Poseidon? A Blast of Truth from Irvine’s Peer Swan.  (March 2015)
• Cage Rattled Hard, OCWD Dons Fig Leaf Before Marrying Poseidon.  (April 2015)
• Our Celebrated Groundwater Replenishment System Steals Poseidon’s Lunch Money.  (April 2015)
• OCWD profile #1: Phil Anthony, the Quiet Skeptic.  (April 2015)
• Showdown at the OCWD Corral Nears, R4RD launches Volley.  (May 2015)
• The Poseidon Adventure Sails On!  (May 2015)
• Dina Nguyen Stands Up Garden Grove, Skips Fascinating Poseidon Forum.  (May 2015)
• Will OCWD be Shipwrecked by Mermaids? (June 2015)
• Cathy Green Falsely Carries Poseidon Water to Coastal Commission  (June 2015)
• Watch Poseidon Joke over Proposed Property Tax Increase to fund their “Privately Funded” Desal Project.  (July 2015)
• Bao Stands for Garden Grove Against Poseidon, the rest of Council Waffles.  (July 2015)
• Phan is the Man – who Stopped this and Needs to Start it Again!  (July 2015)
• OC Can Do Desal Better – Use Salt to Lock Up CO2 Emissions.  (August 2015)
• San Diego Has Too Much Water – but is Paying $1 Billion for Their Poseidon Plant.  (Dec. 2015)
• Poseidon Progress Report: Eight Ways to Screw the Public.  (Feb. 2016)
• Why the Coastal Commission Will Approve Poseidon.  (April 2016)
• Poseidon in denial over the obstacles ahead, and more… (May 2016)
• Dispatches from the Battle Against Poseidon, Summer 2016 (July 2016)
• Poseidon Plays the Race Card, LULAC Dances to their Tune.  (July 2016)
• Fullerton Reaches its Day of Decision on Poseidon (Jan. 2017)
• OCWD Tonight:  Replenish the Aquifer with the Winter’s Fabulous Snows!  (April 2017)
• John Earl:  The Ideological War Behind Poseidon.  (August 2017)
• How Stoopid Does Poseidon Think This County is Anyway?  (Jan. 2018)