In September 2017, the Daily Pilot, part of the Los Angeles Times, published a letter to the editor opposing Poseidon's proposed seawater desalination plant in Huntington Beach. The reader considered the environmental pledges for the roughly 1 billion dollar project insufficient and pointed to past problems at the Tampa Bay plant. According to the letter, Poseidon had rejected a subsurface intake suggested by the California Coastal Commission because of the cost. The reader argued that the expanded groundwater replenishment system of the Orange County Water District made the plant unnecessary.
The letter showed which arguments shaped the debate over the Huntington Beach project at the time: protecting marine life at the intake, cost, and alternatives such as groundwater replenishment.
Source: Daily Pilot (Los Angeles Times)