One of the most difficult challenges facing California's public policy-makers is securing a reliable water supply for our residents and businesses. During my tenure in the state Assembly, we have begun looking to saltwater desalination with the expectation that one day it would play a valuable role in solving Southern California's water needs.

Saltwater desalination is not a new concept. Twenty years ago, desalination was a technology with enormous potential. Today, that potential has been realized with thousands of desalination plants operating around the world. Now, desalination is a tried and true means of quenching the world's growing water needs. In San Diego County, we now have the opportunity to implement this promising technology.

The unanimous vote of the Carlsbad City Council to move forward with an environmental impact report for a desalination project in Carlsbad is an important step toward achieving the region's goal of securing a locally controlled, cost-certain supply of drinking water. In April, Carlsbad initiated the environmental review process and the desalination plant's draft EIR should be circulated among the public in August.

Carlsbad's action takes on increased significance in light of the County Water Authority's recent decision to defer to the City of Carlsbad and its other member agencies on the desalination partnership with Poseidon Resources Corporation. The CWA's decision to provide an extended period of time to advance the desalination plant as a local project will allow this vital component of the region's water infrastructure to move forward in a well-planned manner.

Poseidon Resources first proposed building this drought-proof supply of water from the Pacific Ocean in 1998, and it is now poised to move forward. The plan is to build a 50-million gallon seawater desalination plant next to the Encina Power Plant. Having secured a long-term lease with Cabrillo Power, the owner and operator of Carlsbad's Encina power plant, Poseidon has completed scientific and engineering studies and developed a successful demonstration plant in Carlsbad that today is producing high-quality potable water that exceeds the most stringent environmental and regulatory standards. Now, Poseidon and Carlsbad are working together to advance a public-private partnership to make this much needed, locally controlled supply of water a reality.

I applaud the CWA's decision to return the project to its original concept - a local public-private partnership that provides significant local and regional public benefit - because Carlsbad is in the best position to advance the desalination partnership. Moving forward will ensure that the plant can be completed and producing water by 2007.

From Carlsbad's perspective there is much to be gained. The city will retain land-use control over the project site; gain new property tax revenue from the redevelopment area (approximately $2 million per year); receive enhanced certainty as to price, quality and reliability of water; and gain four key parcels of land near Agua Hedionda Lagoon and Terra Mar Beach. Poseidon and Cabrillo Power have expressed a commitment to develop the desalination project in a manner that will maximize public access to the beach, lagoon and open space and recreational opportunities.

It is with high hopes and great expectations that I watch the progress of the Carlsbad desalination project. The residents of San Diego County should view with justifiable pride the leadership that Carlsbad Mayor Lewis and the Carlsbad City Council are displaying in the quest for a secure water supply for the city and the region. For too long our region has suffered from water dependency. Independence is within our grasp, and through Carlsbad's bold leadership, we all will be able to taste it soon.