Marin County Water Board OKs desalination plant

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Marin County's largest water utility voted Wednesday night to build a plant that will convert about 5 million gallons of seawater into drinking water for about 190,000 people. It's the first such project on San Francisco Bay.

Despite vocal opposition to the project that extended the Marin Municipal Water District's board meeting well into the night, the board voted 4-0 in favor. The five-member board has one vacancy.

Most speakers at the at-times boisterous meeting attended by about 200 people opposed the desalination facility on the grounds that it is too costly, would harm marine life and could expose people to harmful bay chemicals. What's more, they say, the steep energy needs of the plant will pump huge amounts of climate-changing gases into the atmosphere.

Some people want to go back to a hunter- gatherer society.