Did you know that oceans cover 71 percent of the earth's surface and that they contain 96.5 percent of the earth's water?

Here in Carlsbad, we gaze out in homage to some of this water in our back yard, the Pacific Ocean. But do we ever think of this water on personal terms? For drinking? For bathing? For cooking?

For many years, people have been saying that just because the water is there, that doesn't mean we can use it.

How wrong they were.

In three to four years, we are going to get a taste of that ocean. Right out of our faucets. And it is going to taste better than what we have now.

A big thanks has to go to our City Council members who have fought and persevered to make this happen. To make sure that we can drink, bathe and even flush during particularly dry years.

Of course, nothing could happen without Poseidon Resources, the corporation that first introduced its technical brilliance to our city back in 1998, when it proposed building a desalination plant at the site of the Encina Power Station.

This should have been a no-brainer. After all, who doesn't want reliable, affordable, high-quality water, especially from a local source?

But, somewhere along the way, lines of communication between several governmental agencies broke down, and the county water authority board members opted to suspend talks with Poseidon.

The good news is that the project, which will produce 50 million gallons of potable water a day at what will be the largest desal plant in the nation, is finally flowing in the right direction. It no longer is a pipe dream. A dream that will help Carlsbad, as well as neighboring cities.

This month, on Friday the 13th, the city released its Environmental Impact Report (EIR). It was prepared by Dudek & Associates, a consulting firm in Encinitas, and it shows that there will be no traffic, noise or air quality impacts on our community, or any impacts on the marine environment.

This report can be seen at the city clerk's office at City Hall, at the planning department on Faraday Avenue, at the two Carlsbad libraries, at the main libraries in Oceanside and Vista, and it can be viewed on the city's Web site: www.ci.carlsbad.ca.us. Comments will be accepted until June 29.

Testing, studying, testing, studying has been the mantra for Poseidon, which has had a small pilot plant up and running since 2003. (Some of the equipment is manufactured in Oceanside.) And testing will begin in June on plumbing systems, for when the new water is introduced into home pipes and throughout the city's infrastructure.

So far, 1,200 local residents, including school kids, have seen the pilot plant in operation and have tasted the clean and pure drinking water. (Group tours are available by calling Jessica Rodier at (619) 595-7802, ext. 10.) And, if you want to know more about the proposed plant or read Poseidon's newsletters, check the Web site: poseidonresources.com.

Also, the county water authority will be holding workshops during the next few weeks to discuss possible pipeline routes to carry this desalinated seawater from the Encina station.

These meetings will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Vista Irrigation District; Thursday at the Carlsbad Senior Center; and June 7 at Alvin Dunn Elementary in San Marcos. For more information, call (877) 682-9283.

Barbara Brill, a North County Times columnist, is a free-lance writer who has lived in Carlsbad since 1971. Contact: bbrill2@juno.com

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