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? California desalination project at crossroads

For more than two decades, California’s Orange County has debated whether to build a seaside plant to convert the Pacific Ocean’s salt water into drinking water. Now, the $1.4 billion proposal by Poseidon Water was getting a critical review Thursday by the California Coastal Commission, which is tasked with protecting California’s scenic shores.

Huntington Beach plant will produce 50 million gallons of water a day that are crucial to help weather cutbacks. But environmental groups and the commission’s staff, which reviewed the plan, oppose it. They argue it will damage marine life by killing tiny organisms that form the base of the ocean’s food web.

The Orange County Water District, which has said it intends to buy Poseidon’s water, manages the basin that helps meet about 75% of the water demand in the heavily populated northern and central areas of the county that are home to 2.5 million people.

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