The Hermosa Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to oppose a planned ocean water desalination project, joining neighboring Manhattan Beach in opposing the project.
Public comment on the proposal was overwhelmingly in opposition, with residents citing numerous environmental and financial concerns.
The council made their decision over objections from the West Basin Municipal Water District, a public agency that provides drinking and recycled water to 17 cities in the region. The district had asked that the council delay taking a position until the release of a draft environmental impact report about the proposal is released in June.
But speakers urged the council not to delay. Melissa Kelly, an attorney with LA Waterkeeper, a nonprofit working to protect the Santa Monica Bay, said experience in other cities showed the importance of not waiting. Kelly cited the example of a recently completed, billion-dollar desalination plant in San Diego County.
“It is really critical to step in early to avoid what happened in Carlsbad, where the project had built so much momentum that by the time the city got involved, it was too late,” she said.
Some of the urgency in opposing the project came from a feeling among public and council members that water district officials were already in favor of the project, a charge West Bain officials vigorously denied. They planned to wait until receiving comment on the draft EIR before making any decisions, and said exploring desalination in a time of prolonged drought was the responsible thing to do.
“We have not made a decision to pursue the building of a facility,” said Harold Williams, a member of the West Basin board of directors and a former civil engineer with Hermosa’s public works department. “But as a coastal water agency, it is our responsibility to evaluate ocean water desalination.”
Craig Cadwallader, head of the Surfrider Foundation’s South Bay Chapter, was one of many speakers to laud West Basin’s water recycling efforts, and said that the district should remain focused on those. Existing regulatory and infrastructure hurdles prevent putting recycled water into the drinking water supply, and West Basin said that “direct potable reuse” is still 20 years away. But several people at the meeting disputed that figure, and said exploring desalination should be a “last resort.”
“They’ve been a leader in the recycling of water,” Cadwallader said of West Basin. “I would like to see them lead with their strength.”
