In April 2017, Easy Reader published an in-depth report on the West Basin Municipal Water District's plans for a seawater desalination plant at the NRG power site in El Segundo. Two sizes were under study, 60 or 20 million gallons per day (about 227,000 or 76,000 m³/day); the environmental report was due later that year. Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach opposed it in letters, while Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lomita backed it. West Basin expected about 11 percent of regional supply and roughly 3 dollars more per month on household bills.
The report showed how divided the South Bay was over desalination: coastal cities opposed the plant, several inland cities supported it, and the dispute centred on energy demand, cost and water recycling as an alternative.
Source: Easy Reader