$140M Desalination Plant OK'd In Dana Point By CA Coastal Commission

DANA POINT, CA — In a bid to bolster water supplies along coastal areas, officials approved a $140 million desalination plant, planned for Dana Point's on Doheny State Beach.

The approval from the California Coastal Commission comes less than six months after the agency rejected a proposal for a major desalination plant in Huntington Beach.

The Doheny Ocean Desalination Project received unanimous approval from the commission — with conditions — for the plant to be built near Pacific Coast Highway and San Juan Creek in Dana Point, according to reports.

Once in operation, the facility will convert up to five million gallons of seawater to drinking water and could help shore up water supplies for residents as far away as Riverside County. It will be operated by the South Coast Water District.

While plans for a big desalination plant in Huntington Beach were ultimately denied by the commission in May because of dangers the project posed to marine life and other issues, the Doheny plant is designed to tie into the local government and feature a better environmental design, officials told The Los Angeles Times.

Coastal Commission Senior Deputy Director Kate Huckelbridge told The LA Times that the Doheny project "represents an easier pathway to an approvable project."

“We have really significant water problems in the state, and so I think we’re in a situation where we need to be really serious about investigating all of the options,” she told the Times.

The plant requires one more key permit before it can reach full approval, the Orange County Register reported. In addition, Laguna Beach-based agency South Coast Water District must work out agreements with possible water agency partners before a roughly three-year construction process can start.

For more information on the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project, visit the South Coast Water District's website.