The federal Auditor-General's report has sparked new claims that the controversial expansion, largely funded through big water bill increases, was made on purely political grounds.

SA Council of Social Service executive director Ross Womersley said he always doubted the need to double the plant size, given it "would have to be paid for and have a huge impact on (water) prices".

Click HERE to read the rest of the article.

If Poseidon Resources Inc. hopes to have its yet-to-be built Huntington Beach desalination rig online by 2017, it must answer several tough questions about its viability.

Read the whole article HERE

A draft decision released by the Essential Services Commission on Tuesday rejected price rises of almost $300 proposed by water retailers.

Melbourne's water retailers were seeking an increase in residential water and sewerage bills of between 31.7 to 35.8 per cent over the next five years to recover costs from the Wonthaggi desalination plant.

But the commission suggested a more modest increase of between 20 and 26 per cent.

Water Minister Peter Walsh said that if the desalination plant had not been built, bills may have only increased by around $50 next year.

Read the whole article HERE.

An update to an article from May 2010 about a desalination plant in Brockton, Massachusetts.

"In 2011, the Dighton plant lost more than $1.6 million, according to the plant’s Department of Public Utilities financial filing. The plant’s $517,000 in revenue was offset by about $347,000 in taxes and $1.8 million in interest owed on bonds. The city is spending $5.8 million this year – part of a 20-year contract with the plant to add water capacity – for water rights for the plant. But it has not drawn water from the facility since May 2011."

Sound Familiar? Click HERE to read original article, and Click HERE to read the update.

Many people in Southern California think that we are in a perpetual drought and will not have enough water to sustain ourselves. Unfortunately, this common fear is fueling misguided support for ocean desalination, the process of removing salt from seawater to create potable water.

Read the rest of the Article HERE

The Seal Beach Sun is reporting that the city council has unanimously approved a non-binding letter of interest regarding the purchase of water from Poseidon Resources Inc., the Connecticut-based company proposing a $1 billion desalination plant in Huntington Beach. Thirsty Seal Beachers queuing up at the communal spigot with canteens in hand, be advised, the deal is far from assured.

Read the article and the comments HERE

NOT one drop of water from Victoria's $5.7 billion desalination plant has been ordered for the state's supply, for the second year in a row.

With Melbourne's water storages at three-quarters full and holding more than 1300 gigalitres, the state government has placed a zero gigalitre order for the 2013/14 financial year. Despite this, Melbourne Water customers will still have to pay $650 million in annual holding payments over 2013/14 due to a contract signed by the previous Labor government, Water Minister Peter Walsh said. The plant will remain in standby mode, with a decision on a 2014/15 order due by April 1 next year, he said. "There is no point in ordering water that is not actually needed," Mr Walsh told reporters on Wednesday.

- AAP

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/state-government-places-zero-gigalitre-order-from-57-billion-desalination-plant/story-e6frf7jo-1226607837458

Proposed Water Desalination Plant In Huntington Beach

Environmentalists and activists are making waves over a plan to build a water desalination plant in Huntington Beach. Poseidon officials are trying to get final approval this year from the California Coastal Commission to build the one-billion dollar plant.

Click Here to watch the video on PBSSocal.org

A plant for making seawater drinkable in Carlsbad, Calif., will offer a peek into a future when prices for water reflect the real costs of obtaining it.

Read the whole article in the New York Times

From the Surf City Voice

Editor’s note: Gus Ayer, the former mayor of Fountain Valley, was probably Orange County’s top progressive political strategist and activist. He passed away on Feb. 13, 2013. At that time he was about to unveil a major grassroots campaign to inform the county’s water ratepayers and their elected public officials that the nearly $1 billion ocean desalination plant proposed for construction in Huntington Beach was unnecessary and would cost about $5 billion extra over the next 30 years.That campaign, which he played a major role in organizing, is still underway. He submitted this column to the Surf City Voice a few days ago.

Analysis and Commentary
By Gus Ayer
Special to the Surf City Voice

Click Here to READ