The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last month it will loan Poseidon Water $170 million to upgrade its Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant in Southern California.
The funds will be used to upgrade the desalination plant’s seawater intake and discharge systems to meet California’s so-called Ocean Plan standards for protecting marine life, according to the EPA.
The plant provides up to 50 million gallons of clean, fresh water to the San Diego region daily. That is about ten percent of the region’s water supply, according to the EPA.
In order to make that much water, the plant pulls an estimated 100 million gallons from the Pacific Ocean. Most of the excess water is used to dilute the residual brine water that is returned to the ocean after the fresh water is extracted from the seawater, according to Poseidon Water.
“Since the beginning, Poseidon Resources’ mission has been to provide high-quality drinking water and a long-term sustainable solution for San Diego County while protecting ratepayers,” Sachin Chawla, president of Poseidon Resources, said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “This infusion of low-interest capital and close partnerships with U.S. EPA and the Water Authority will further support modernizing Carlsbad’s Desalination Plant for future generations.”
Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), who helped secure the loan, said in a statement the funds will allow the plant to improve its efficiency and environmental practices.
“I will never stop fighting to improve our region’s water security at the most affordable price for ratepayers,” he said.
The loan from the EPA is part of the federal Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, a program that funds U.S. water infrastructure projects.
Last month, the San Diego County Water Authority announced that the low-interest loan will save ratepayers $54 million when compared to more conventional financing.
The announcement of the loan came just weeks after the county water authority announced it will be raising its wholesale water rates to local water agencies by 14 percent for 2024. The rate increase is driven primarily by the increasing costs of water that it receives coupled with declining sales, according to the water authority.
But that price increase may not trickle down to residential and business customers, as retail bills are not entirely dependent on the wholesale price, according to the agency.
Local water agencies’ prices vary based on wholesale rates, customers’ water use, as well as other factors that are unique to the local retail water agencies, according to the agency.
