Newsom gets it right on desalination

Kudos to Gov. Gavin Newsom for increasing his support for the $1.4 billion Poseidon Water desalination in Huntington Beach. “We need more tools in the damn tool kit. We are as dumb as we want to be,” he said Friday in a meeting with the Bay Area News Group editorial board. “What more evidence do you need that you need to have more tools in the tool kit than what we’ve experienced? Seven out of the last 10 years have been severe drought.”

California is thirsty. And another drought is making us thirstier. On Monday, KTLA headlined, “California’s grim drought situation is visible from the International Space Station.” The U.S Drought Monitor on April 26 classified 95% of California under severe or extreme drought. Water authorities already are asking Californians to cut down on shower times, watering lawns and washing cars.

Newsom’s “more tools in the tool kit” approach is the right one. It’s an “all of the above” plan for water abundance, which also includes building more dams and reservoirs under Proposition 1, the $7.5 billion water bond passed by voters in 2014. A Public Policy Institute of California study on funding “for new water storage projects — which involve long lead times,” only “just over $150 million of the $2.7 billion authorized has been spent,” although the rest has been allocated.

The great thing about Poseidon is funding is private. It would produce 50 million gallons a day, slaking the thirst of 400,000 Southern Californians. Understandable environmental concerns, such as sending salty brine back into the ocean, have been addressed

The California Coastal Commission will consider the project on May 12. Unfortunately, the commission’s recent staff report recommended against approving the desalination plant. Gov. Newsom said the report made some sensible recommendations that could be adopted, but the overall project still ought to be approved. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and former Gov. Jerry Brown, both serious environmentalists, also back the project.

“Keep an eye on the environmental justice issues and costs,” the governor urged. “Be tough. Be fair, though. Don’t be ideological.”

The commission should turn on the spigot to development.