The plant, which is expected to produce 5 million gallons of drinking water per day, is the first desalination facility that the Coastal Commission has approved since more strict regulations were adopted in 2019.
However, it is still opposed by various groups, including several Sierra Club activists who spoke against the Doheny project at this week’s hearing, when they expressed their concerns about the impact on marine life and the amount of energy required to pump ocean water through the plant’s reverse osmosis filters.