by The Editors on November 16, 2007
The Sierra Club California Coastal program director Mark Massara says that Poseidon Resources will likely be challenged in court before they can build the desalination plant, according to KPBS.org.
I’d say it’s a virtual certainty given the massive unaddressed questions and information inadequacies that are still associated with the project.”
Through all of this we’ve got one question: what is the ocean around warm waters going to be like with water that is twice as salty as it should be? What will that do to the lobsters? What will it do to what they eat? Anyone have any answers?
[Link: KPBS.org]
by The Editors on November 15, 2007
In a classic case of legalese the California Coastal Commission took roll and voted on a motion regarding Poseidon Resource’s Carlsbad desalination plant at 9:06 PM tonight. It passed 9 to 3. That means the desalination plant proposal has been approved, however, there are still many details to work out and be approved by the Coastal Commission before construction can start.
by The Editors on November 15, 2007
At 8:35 PM tonight the members of the California Costal Commission are still meeting the Sheraton San Diego Hotel at 1433 Camino Del Rio South. From the thoughts expressed by commissioners Sara J. Wan and Steve Blank it does not look like it’s going well for the Poseidon Resources or plans for the desalination plant.
There is a whole bunch of information that is simply not available to us to make our decision. . . I’d love to be able to approve a desal project that would work, but this is not it as presented,” Wan said.
From the sounds of the discussion it is the opinion of at least three of the Commission members that Poseidon and friends did not provide the information and mitigation measure details needed for the Coastal Commission to make any decision on the plan at all. Commissioner Larry Clark summed it up this way:
We have one of two options. . . we have the option of spending the next few hours going through each and every one of these conditions, or we can continue this matter. My sense of this is that we are far better off if we continue this matter.
If you’re online you can watch the the hearing live by clicking here.
[Link: California Coastal Commission]
by The Editors on November 15, 2007
If a ban on smoking at Carlsbad beaches could raise tax revenue for the city you know the Carlsbad City Council would have been all over it years ago. But seeing as a beach smoking ban is simply a smart, well-reasoned thing to do, the Council has only recently thought about it.
“Apparently, we’re the last one to consider a smoking ban,” Councilman Mark Packard said, mentioning that the Encinitas City Council decided Tuesday to draw up such an ordinance.
According to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times Carlsbad is that last North County city in San Diego County to take action. Bans are already in place in Del Mar, Oceanside and Solana Beach.
But not everyone is in favor of this ban. Mayor Bud Lewis thinks this “smacks of over-regulation,” and Councilwoman Julie Nygaard doesn’t see a “butt-problem” at Carlsbad beaches. Then there’s Police Chief Tom Zoll. He seems to view it as more work:
Enforcement of a smoking ban at the beach won’t be easy — it could require dispatching an officer to walk the beach, he said.
Yes, Chief Zoll, an officer may actually need to get out of his or her car and we know how dangerous that can be.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on November 9, 2007
It weighs in at 88 pages, but the Costal Commission staff report on the proposed Poseidon Resource desalination plant should be read by everyone who is interested in future of Agua Hedionda Lagoon or ocean life near Warm Waters. The report is very straight forward on why the project is a bad idea:
The proposed project represents a non-allowable use of Agua Hedionda Lagoon, one of 19 coastal estuaries in which permitted uses are limited to very minor incidental public facilities, restorative measures, and nature study. Further, the project would require ongoing dredging of the lagoon, which would adversely affect water quality and habitat. . . .The project would cause significant adverse impacts to marine life and water quality in Agua Hedionda and in nearshore ocean waters. The entrainment caused by the project’s use of an open-water intake within Agua Hedionda would result in a loss of productivity in the lagoon equal to that produced in no less than 37 acres of wetland and open water habitat. The project’s discharge into coastal waters of its waste stream at levels of salinity higher than the natural variability of these waters would cause adverse effects to marine organisms in an area ranging from about eight to over 40 acres of benthic habitat.
The Costal Commission’s November meeting at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel at 1433 Camino Del Rio South begins on November 14, 2007 with the desalination plant discussion scheduled for November 15 (it’s number seven on the agenda).
While the staff report clearly suggests a “No” vote, most political pressure seems to bearing down in the opposite direction. In fact, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutes auqaman Donald Kent believes the plant will actually be good for the lagoon, according to an editorial in the North County Times.
by The Editors on November 3, 2007
The Surfrider Foundation has already stated that and the Agua Hedionda lagoon is the wrong place for the Poseidon Resources desalination factory. Now, according to the North County Times the staff of the California Coastal Commission is recommending a no vote on the project as well.
The staff of the California Coastal Commission, after months of reviewing information, said the project should be denied because it would harm marine life and water quality, hurt Agua Hedionda lagoon, and create millions of pounds of “green house gases” every year that could add to global warming.
Poseidon Resources is quoted as saying that they “were not surprised by the recommendation, but disputed the findings and said they thought commissioners would still approve the project.” Maybe they know something we don’t know.
[Link: North County Times and California Progress Report]
by The Editors on October 29, 2007
Jefferson Elementary school teacher Marta Arroyo retired in 2006 after 20 years at the school, however, she has not stopped her educating ways. With some help from Jefferson art teacher Marsha Hawes, Arroyo has written and self-published a book titled La Fiesta y el Mariachi, according to a story in the North County Times.
Arroyo said she found herself recalling classroom situations where sensitivity was continually required. “What we were really talking about was culture. We can learn from each other’s culture and respect each other’s culture,” Arroyo said. “And my book is a cultural story about a little girl going to a fiesta with her parents, where she sees the mariachi.”
The 36-page book is written in both English and Spanish so everyone can read it. To get a copy of “La Fiesta y el Mariachi simply click the title.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on October 18, 2007
The Mitsuuchis family is hoping to sell 18 acres of land on the northeast side of Batiquitos Lagoon to the California Coastal Conservancy as open space according to a story in the San Diego Union Tribune.
Deborah Ruddock, the California Coastal Conservancy’s project manager for North County lagoons, said the property has been appraised at $2.4 million. The conservancy’s board will consider committing $1.7 million toward buying the property at its meeting Nov. 8, Ruddock said. . . She said the California Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are trying to come up with the balance.
Open space on the lagoon is a good thing, right?
[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]
by The Editors on October 4, 2007
According to the North County Times San Diego’s five congressional delegates have gotten together and sent a letter California Coastal Commission begging them to approve the Carlsbad Desalination Plant when they meet Nov. 15, 2007 on the project.
The letter states that the plant would enable the county to “pursue a water diversification strategy” to complement conservation and reclamation efforts. It was signed by Darrell Issa, R-Vista; Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach; Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon; Bob Filner, D-San Diego; and Susan Davis, R-San Diego. . . It also suggests that the plant would reduce pressure on the state’s imported water system.
We would like the idea so much more if it wasn’t in our backyard. How about making it part of the Ponto Vision Plan?
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on September 29, 2007
Last spring when a sewage line owned by the City of Vista (and 10 percent by Carlsbad) ruptured, it dumped 7.3 million gallons of raw sewage into the Buena Vista Lagoon and killed more than 1,700 fish and other lagoon life forms. Now the cities are being faced with a $1.1 million fine from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, according to a story in the San Diego Union Tribune.
The report states the maximum fine that could have been imposed was $73 million. However, even adjusted for inflation, the proposed $1.1 million is higher than a $142,000 fine the board levied on Oceanside in 1994 for a 4.75-million-gallon spill into the same lagoon, which lies between Oceanside and Carlsbad.
Luckily, for Carlsbad, Vista will have to pay the majority of the fine if it must be paid. And we were worried about Oceanside building some condos on the lagoon.
[Link: San Diego Union Tribune]
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