Expected to produce 50 million gallons of desalinated water per day, Carlsbad desalination plant is scheduled to be operational and delivering high quality drinking water throughout San Diego County before the end of 2012.
 

Peter MacLaggan, senior vice president of Poseidon Resources said: “It’s been a long and rewarding process, during which we met and overcame every challenge that one would expect when developing a major water supply project. This historic accomplishment would not have been possible without the support of a myriad of individuals and organizations that tirelessly fought to ensure that sound science and the public interest prevailed. When we are finished, San Diego will be home to the most technologically advanced, energy efficient and environmentally-sound seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere.”
 

The Phase I construction of Carlsbad desalination plant includes demolishing and removing existing oil and diesel storage tanks and other structures including a wastewater treatment facility and above- and below-ground piping throughout the site. Poseidon is also installing construction fencing, surveying and removing any hydrocarbon-related materials and asbestos containing materials, relocating electrical and mechanical equipment and conducting any soil remediation at the desalination plant.

The permits for Carlsbad desalination plant necessitate the installation and construction of certain stormwater pollution prevention measures. The California Coastal Commission issued the desalination plant's Coastal Development Permit and authorized construction of the desalination plant on November 3, 2009.