Savior or Albatross? Proposed desalination plant could decrease South Bay’s dependence on imported water, but has raised environmental concerns


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And neither is the debate over desalination. The West Basin Municipal Water District, the water supplier for the broader South Bay area, has proposed building an ocean water desalination plant near the NRG power generation campus off Vista del Mar. Two possible plants — one producing 60-million gallons-per-day, the other 20 million — are under consideration. An environmental impact report has been in the works since August 2015, and is set to be released sometime this year.

Spurred by concerns from local environmentalists, the Beach Cities have formed an opposition block to the project. Hermosa Beach and Manhattan [
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