In March 2016, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported, citing The Daily Breeze, that Hermosa Beach city council had voted unanimously to send West Basin Municipal Water District a preliminary letter objecting to its planned ocean desalination plant. The roughly US$300 million facility, proposed for an NRG power station site in El Segundo, would produce 90,000 to 270,000 m³/day, from 2023 at the earliest. Manhattan Beach had drafted a similar letter. Carol W Kwan, who chaired the West Basin board, said no decision to build had been taken.
The report showed large seawater desalination on the Southern California coast meeting local resistance from cities that wanted conservation and recycling pursued first.