Thirdcloud Publications Surf City Strand Mag November 2015 | Page 23

Launching Poseidon in Huntington Beach
As a coastal community, we should look to be a leader in fostering a sustainable culture of
water—before launching our own Poseidon.
By RA Monaco

“I

T’S EXPENSIVE, it is enormously expensive,” says California Assemblyman Donald P.
Wagner, about ocean water desalinization. After speaking with “the municipal water folks,”
Wagner thinks “the numbers are pretty compelling” and likely a stronger argument against
the proposed Huntington Beach Poseidon plant, than the environmental opposition, which
he doesn’t think is well taken.
“Ground water,” says Assemblyman Wagner, “is less than $400 an acre-foot.” Water out of the
aqueduct—Colorado River—“in round numbers is $1,000 an acre-foot, maybe a little more,” said
Wagner, but desalinization “is $1,300 an acre-foot plus.”
Almost every discussion about desalinated water begins and ends with cost. The Los Angeles
Daily News reports that desalinated water typically costs about $2000 an acre-foot—which is the
amount of water typically used in a year by a family of five.