On Thursday, August 15, 2024, the Board of Directors of the Laguna Beach County Water District (LBCWD) voted 4-1 to approve a Cost Share Agreement with the South Coast Water District (SCWD) for Phase 1 of the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project. With this decision, LBCWD joins SCWD and the Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) as project partners. The City of San Clemente is expected to present the cost-share agreement to their City Council in the coming months. LBCWD's commitment to fund 20 percent ($2.58 million) of Phase 1, is contingent upon all partners signing onto the project.

Project Overview

The Doheny Ocean Desalination Project creates` a new, local, drought-proof water supply that would also provide emergency water supplies should the delivery of imported water be disrupted due to earthquakes or other natural disasters.

The facility's proposed location between Pacific Coast Highway and Stonehill Drive next to San Juan Creek is within 100 yards of existing regional water transmission lines. SCWD would build the facility on property that SCWD already owns, and the infrastructure is already in place with the Joint Regional Water Supply System to distribute desalinated water to SCWD customers and south Orange County, significantly reducing costs and construction impacts. The facility would have a capacity of up to 5 Million Gallons per Day (MGD). 

Once operational, the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project would be the first fully compliant ocean desalination facility to use the California Ocean Plan Amendment’s preferred subsurface intake and blended brine discharge. Source water is from subsurface intake (slant) wells proposed at Doheny State Beach, which are the environmentally preferred technology because they are fully buried beneath the ocean floor to ensure the full protection of marine life. Brine, the saltwater left over from the desalination process, would be co-mingled with treated wastewater in an existing outfall pipe (San Juan Outfall) and discharged to the ocean, which is the environmentally preferred discharge method.

Facts about the Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant

• The Facility will be located in Dana Point between Pacific Coast Highway and Stonehill Drive, adjacent to San Juan Creek on a site owned by South Coast Water District.
• The site is within 100 yards of existing joint regional water transmission lines, mitigating the need to construct additional transmission lines to distribute desalinated water to participating agencies in south Orange County, significantly reducing costs and construction impacts.
• The Facility will produce 5 Million Gallons of water per day.
• South Coast Water District has secured approximately $40 million in Federal and State Grant Funding for the Project.
• The Facility is expected to come online in 2028.
• Currently, Project partners include SCWD, LBCWD, and Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD). (The City of San Clemente is scheduled to bring the partnership cost-share agreement to their City Council in the next few months).
• LBCWD has signed a cost-share agreement committing to fund 20 percent ($2.58 million) of Phase 1 of the Project. That commitment occurs only when all partners have signed onto the project.
• LBCWD’s share will be 1 million gallons of water per day.
• The cost of the desalinated water over the life of the project will be offset by savings from LBCWD’s reduced imported water costs.
• The Project is projected to be cost neutral over its life compared to the LBCWD relying on 100 percent imported water supplies.
• LBCWD’s share of desalinated water will supplement its daily imported water and groundwater supplies.
• LBCWD will receive desalinated water at all the times, not just during emergencies. If an emergency occurs that disrupts our imported water supply, LBCWD will be able to rely on desalinated water to get us through.
• The California Coastal Commission unanimously approved the project and has recognized it as the model of how desalination should be done in California.
• Source water will be from subsurface intake (slant) wells proposed at Doheny State Beach, which are the environmentally preferred technology because they are fully buried beneath the ocean floor to ensure the full protection of marine life.
• Brine, left over from the desalination process, would be co-mingled with treated wastewater in an existing outfall pipe (San Juan Outfall) and discharged to the ocean, which is the environmentally preferred discharge method.
• The project is projected to be 100 percent renewable through energy credits and through on-site solar generation.
• Potential future expansion of the Project, which is already being discussed with key partners including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and adding additional partners could reduce District’s cost.
• Second Phase of the Project has identified the use of treated wastewater as source water for the Project which would lower costs even more while drastically reducing the amount of treated wastewater flows that are currently discharged into the ocean.

Download Doheny Ocean Desalination Project Fact Sheet here.

For Additional Information Visit:

South Coast Water District Doheny Ocean Desalination Project