Private Equity Purifies Pacific to Boost California Water
After a decade of struggles to assuage environmentalists, raise almost $1 billion and win permits, Poseidon Resources Group will finally answer a critical question: Is converting seawater to drinking water a profitable venture in the U.S. when there are cheaper options? The developer of water infrastructure projects began site work last month on the Carlsbad desalination plant, the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. When completed in 2016, the facility 33 miles (53 kilometers) north of San Diego each day will create 54 million gallons of drinking water after drawing it from the salty Pacific Ocean. Bankrolled by a $922 million JPMorgan Chase & Co.-led public-private bond offering -- the biggest U.S. project financing deal of 2012 -- Carlsbad’s chances of success are aided by a 30-year agreement with San Diego’s water authority to buy water from the plant. If successful, the project may become a model for how to ease a growing water crunch.

Read the full article at ​bloomberg.com.

 Project financing has closed on a Southern California desalination plant to construct the largest U.S. facility to make drinking water from the sea, capable of producing about 50 million gallons of potable water a day. Financing closed last week for the almost $1 billion Poseidon desalination and pipeline project in Carlsbad, California, that includes $734 million in tax-exempt bonds as well as private equity from Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, meaning grading and initial construction may begin this month, the San Diego County Water Authority said in a statement. “Closing the financing on an approximately $1 billion project is no small feat,” said Thomas Wornham, chairman of the water authority’s board. “This is a major milestone in the development of this historic project.” 

SAN DIEGO — San Diego's regional water agency approved a contract Thursday to buy the entire output of what would be the Western Hemisphere's largest seawater desalination plant. The San Diego County Water Authority voted on the 30-year contract involving Poseidon Resources LLC, which needed the deal to finance construction of the $984 million project. 

Carlsbad, CA — Just one day after the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors approved a 30-year contract to purchase water produced by the proposed Carlsbad Desalination Project, two more favorable decisions are helping to move forward Poseidon Resources’ project.

The world cradle of desalination know-how wants to start using it​
IF CALIFORNIA were not already so famous for Silicon Valley and Hollywood, it might be renowned for the cluster of water-technology firms in its San Diego County. The reverse-osmosis (RO) spiral module, the trick that underpins turning sea- and waste-water into potable stuff, was patented in San Diego in 1964. Today dozens of firms in the area supply many of the world's roughly 13,000 RO plants in places from the Persian Gulf and Israel to Australia, China, Singapore and Spain. 

Carlsbad, CA — Poseidon Resources issued the following statement today regarding Tuesday’s Carlsbad City Council vote to approve an agreement with the San Diego County Water Authority on the Carlsbad Desalination Project:

​“Poseidon Resources is grateful to the Carlsbad City Council for its decisive action to move the Carlsbad Desalination Project one step closer to full-scale construction. The City of Carlsbad and County Water Authority staff worked diligently for many months to come to an agreement that was beneficial to all parties. Their willingness to work together and put the needs of the region first demonstrates true leadership.

Boston, MA  — Poseidon Resources today announced that Carlos A. Riva has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer. Riva has had a distinguished career as President or Chief Executive Officer of a number of major infrastructure companies, including J. Makowski Company, Intergen, Amec Group, Ltd, and most recently as CEO of Verenium Corporation, a San Diego-based pioneer in the fields of advanced biofuels and industrial enzymes. He holds engineering degrees from M.I.T. and Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

San Diego, CA – Poseidon Resources today announced that the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved its proposal to restore coastal wetlands in south San Diego County’s Otay River floodplain.

​Poseidon’s proposed 66-acre restoration site is located in the South San Diego Bay Unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge and is part of an ongoing restoration effort by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The wetlands restoration site is managed and owned or leased by the USFWS exclusively for restoration of coastal wetlands and associated uplands. Poseidon and the USFWS are entering into a partnership to facilitate the restoration and enhancement of wetlands. The Commission’s approval of the wetlands restoration site clears the way for Poseidon and the USFWS to prepare environmental studies and a final project design.