Surf City Voice

Investigating and reporting on water management issues.

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New OCWD Director's Poseidon Alternative

New OCWD Director’s Poseidon Alternative

Kelly Rowe

By John Earl

Kelly Rowe of Costa Mesa stunned the Poseidon underworld when he soundly defeated two-term Orange County Water District board-member Shawn Dewane in the 2018 election.

Since 2013, Dewane and OCWD directors Cathy Green, Steve Sheldon, and Denis Bilodeau have fought hard for PoseidonResources to build a $1 billion ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach and…

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Blocking Alternatives: How Poseidon's OCWD Board Members Try to Make You Spend More and Get Less

Blocking Alternatives: How Poseidon’s OCWD Board Members Try to Make You Spend More and Get Less

By John Earl

There are lots of more efficient, environmentally safer, and cheaper alternatives to the proposed Poseidon Resources Inc. ocean desalination plant for the ratepayers of the Orange County Water District.

But the Surf City Voice has reported in-depth that pro-Poseidon members of the Orange County Water District Board of…

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Huntington Beach Desal Plant: OCWD's Price Predictions are Garbage In and Gospel Out

Huntington Beach Desal Plant: OCWD’s Price Predictions are Garbage In and Gospel Out

By Debbie Cook

Mark Twain popularized the saying that, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.”

Take the Orange County Water District’s (OCWD) promotion of the proposed Poseidon Resources ocean desalination plant, for instance.

Left to right: Shawn Dewane, Denis Bilodeau, Cathy Green. Voting for the 2015 Poseidon/OCWD term sheet. Photo: Surf City Voice

At its July 18…

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Municipal Water District Will Study Poseidon Desal Alternatives

Municipal Water District Will Study Poseidon Desal Alternatives

By John Earl

Karl Seckel in background

For years, members of the Orange County Water District’s Board of Directors (OCWD BOD) have lied to the public and state officials about establishing the need for a $1 billion ocean desalination plant that they want Poseidon Resources to build and operate in Huntington Beach.

But the Municipal Water District of Orange County  (MWDOC) is about to undo that…

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OCWD's Poseidon Lie Started Officially on July 24, 2013

OCWD’s Poseidon Lie Started Officially on July 24, 2013

By John Earl

We will never know exactly when some members of the Orange County Water District Board of Directors (OCWD BOD) decided to put the interests of Poseidon Resources over the interests of the District’s 2.5 million ratepayers, but July 24, 2013, might be remembered in OCWD history as a day of infamy.

“Confidential” email regarding financing for the Poseidon project to be discussed by the…

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Delay of Poseidon Term Sheet Requested Pending 'Investigation' of Ad Hoc Meetings

Delay of Poseidon Term Sheet Requested Pending ‘Investigation’ of Ad Hoc Meetings

By John Earl

Residents for Responsible Desalination (R4RD) has written a letter to the Orange County Water District (OCWD)Board of Directors and staff asking them to postpone approval of a renegotiated term sheet with Poseidon Water LLC (a.k.a. Poseidon Resources) for development of a $1 billion ocean desalination plant, pending the results of an “investigation” of allegedly illegal meetings used…

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(via Climate Change Could Swamp Billion-Dollar Desal Deal - Surf City Voice)

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Climate Change Could Swamp Billion-Dollar Desal Deal

Climate Change Could Swamp Billion-Dollar Desal Deal

By John Earl

Poseidon Resources and the Orange County Water District may have hit another set of self-inflicted hurdles in their quest to build a billion-dollar ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach.

The potential setbacks include extreme flooding caused by global warming, including downsizing the desalination plant or removing it altogether, according to a recent email from the California…

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(via OC Water District: Tomorrow's Forecast is Cloudy with a Chance of Error - Surf City Voice)

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Documents Related to the Proposed Poseidon Ocean Desalination Project

Documents Related to the Proposed Poseidon Ocean Desalination Project

By John Earl

Thousands of documents were obtained from the Orange County Water District by the Surf City Voice in recent Public Records Act requests.

They relate to the District’s obsession with partnering with Poseidon Resources Inc. to build and operate a $1 billion ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach.

The purpose of uploading some of those documents for public viewing is to allow…

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(via Orange County Water District's Poseidon Obsession: Spurious 'Ad Hoc' Committee Pushes Billion-Dollar Desal Project - Surf City Voice)

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Comments About the Revised Poseidon Resources - OCWD Term Sheet for Proposed Desalination Plant

Comments About the Revised Poseidon Resources – OCWD Term Sheet for Proposed Desalination Plant

Poseidon Resources Inc. and the Orange County Water District’s Desalination Funding Ad hoc Committee have negotiated a proposed revised term sheetthat if passed by the Board at its meeting June 6, 2018, would serve as a blueprint for a future full contract to build and operate a $1 billion ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach. The following comments were received by the Surf City Voice…

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Orange County Water District: Desal Developer's Exclusive Involvement in Hidden Committee Meetings Explained

Protected: Orange County Water District: Desal Developer’s Exclusive Involvement in Hidden Committee Meetings Explained

By John Earl

John Kennedy is the Executive Director of Engineering and Water Resources for the Orange County Water District (OCWD).

He also manages the  District’s so-called Desalination Funding Ad hoc Committee, “so-called” because it acts just like a standing committee, which California’s Ralph M. Brown Act says must hold public meetings, where an ad hoc committee is exempt.

John Kennedy,…

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Orange County Water District's Poseidon Obsession: Spurious 'Ad Hoc' Committee Pushes Billion-Dollar Desal Project

Protected: Orange County Water District’s Poseidon Obsession: Spurious ‘Ad Hoc’ Committee Pushes Billion-Dollar Desal Project

By John Earl

California law says that the Orange County Water District, which manages the Orange County Groundwater Basin, belongs to the 2.4 million people who live in its service area. But some of the District’s 10 board members act like it’s all theirs. The Brown Act, which protects the peoples’ right to monitor and address their local government agencies, would have them act otherwise.

“The…

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Spurious 'Ad-hoc' Committee Pushes Poseidon Project Forward Behind Closed Doors

Protected: Spurious ‘Ad-hoc’ Committee Pushes Poseidon Project Forward Behind Closed Doors

By John Earl

California law says that the Orange County Water District, which manages the Orange County Groundwater Basin, belongs to the 2.4 million people who live in its service area. But some of the District’s 10 board members act like it’s all theirs. The Brown Act, which protects the peoples’ right to monitor and address their local government agencies, would have them act otherwise.

“The…

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OCWD - $240 Million Water Budget Passed at 'Worst Public Meeting Ever'

OCWD – $240 Million Water Budget Passed at ‘Worst Public Meeting Ever’

By John Earl

The Orange County Water District Board of Directors (OCWD BOD) is out of control and the consequences could be costly for the District’s 2.4 million customers.

That’s my conclusion after attending hundreds of OCWD board meetings and examining thousands of documents over the past five years, including hundreds that I received recently from a Public Records Act inquiry.

Those recent…

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OCWD - $249 Million Water Budget Passed at 'Worst Public Meeting Ever'

OCWD – $249 Million Water Budget Passed at ‘Worst Public Meeting Ever’

By John Earl

The Orange County Water District Board of Directors (OCWD BOD) is out of control and the consequences could be costly for the District’s 2.4 million customers.

That’s my conclusion after attending hundreds of OCWD board meetings and examining thousands of documents over the past five years, including hundreds that I received recently from a Public Records Act inquiry.

Those recent…

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