This week, Poseidon Resources Corp., the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council and the Southwestern Regional Council of Carpenters announced a partnership for construction of the Carlsbad Desalination Plant.

The Carlsbad plant, which Poseidon has been developing since 1998, is scheduled to be operational in 2008, after the environmental review and approval process and construction is completed. Once built, Carlsbad will be home to the largest seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, which will provide San Diego's residents and businesses with a new source of affordable drinking water while creating significant economic benefit for the employers and employees of San Diego County.

As the city of Carlsbad's private sector partner, Poseidon will assume all risks associated with the financing, development, construction and operation of the project, while providing the city with its entire daily requirement for water -- up to 25 million gallons per day.

Poseidon is in discussions with other water utilities in San Diego County and the County Water Authority regarding allocation of the remaining 25 millions gallons of drinking water the plant will produce every day. In total, the plant will be able to sustain the fresh water needs of 300,000 San Diegans annually. For water ratepayers, the desalination plant represents a forward-looking project that will ensure residents and businesses will have a local water supply that protects the region from drought. Because desalination technology has become more affordable and financial incentives are available from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the drinking water produced by Poseidon from the Pacific Ocean will never cost Carlsbad ratepayers more than the cost of other sources of water available to the city.

The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the desalination plant was released on May 16 by the city of Carlsbad for public comment. The publication of the EIR marked an important milestone for the project and opened a 45-day period for the community to review and comment. Over the course of the last four years, sufficient information has been developed to conclude that the proposed project could be constructed and operated in an environmentally responsible manner. For both the construction and ongoing operation of the plant, the EIR does not identify any significant, unavoidable impacts related to 13 different areas studied including noise, traffic, growth-inducement, air and water quality, land use, public utilities and natural resources.

The construction of the plant will be an important phase in the completion of the project. To this end, the business-labor partnership with San Diego's labor community provides widespread benefit. The labor agreement ensures that one of the most important water infrastructure projects in San Diego history will be built without prolonged labor disputes that could disrupt construction and increase costs. At the same time, the plant will be built by skilled, cost-effective labor from the San Diego community.

The members of San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council and the Regional Council of Carpenters are responsible for building some of the region's most important public and private facilities and infrastructure projects. Many of these successful projects incorporated project labor agreements, including the San Diego Convention Center expansion, the Padres ballpark, and the Otay Mesa and Escondido power plants.

As a result of this partnership, all labor will be hired locally, meaning jobs will be created for San Diegans. Studies have shown that every dollar earned in San Diego will be spent in San Diego several times over. This multiplier effect will result in significant economic benefit for the region, including an estimated $170 million in spending during construction, 2,100 jobs created during construction, and $37 million in annual spending throughout the region once the desalination plant is operational.

The agreement also represents collaboration between the business community and the people who live and work in our community. This business-labor partnership will help marry San Diego's working families with San Diego's desalination industry.

Modern-day reverse osmosis technology used in desalination was born out of San Diego's own General Atomics in the 1960s. Today, San Diego County is home to much of the international desalination industry, with over 35 desalination-related companies employing 2,200 people and generating over $200 million in annual revenue.

Creating drinking water from the Pacific Ocean is a monumental undertaking, and the Carlsbad desalination plant will be one of the region's most ambitious public-private partnerships. The benefits to employees, employers and the general public are enormous, and the sooner the construction of the plant starts, the sooner San Diego County residents will realize the benefits.
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Winrow is president of Poseidon Resources Corp., Hartnett is president of the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council, and Flores is administrative assistant for the Southwestern Regional Council of Carpenters.