Survey says...more than 3 of 4 HB voters support desal project

Support in Huntington Beach for Poseidon Water’s proposed desalination plant is growing according to a May 2020 survey with more than three out of four Huntington Beach voters saying they support the Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Facility.  On Tuesday, July 21, the Orange County Register ran a front-page story about the strong support desal has with the public.  You can read that here.

The new public opinion survey results, which compared voters attitudes about the project sampled over the past 6 years, shows support remains steady and growing with almost half the survey participants saying they “strongly support” the project and fewer than one in six Huntington Beach voters saying they oppose the Project.

Not only do residents support the desal plant, but when asked what the best way would be to ensure a clean, safe and local drought-proof water supply, desalination topped the list with 48.9% of respondents choosing the ocean water purification process.  Increasing our supply of imported water, which is what Orange County does now in a drought, is favored by just 13.8% of the respondents.

Clear majorities said they were concerned about a possibly water shortage within the next five years (53.8%) and are additionally concerned about the security of our current water supply should a natural disaster occur (62.2%).

Finally, when told about Poseidon Water’s plans to protect and preserve the Bolsa Chica wetlands, more than three out of four said they’d be more likely to support the project knowing this.  And 72.6% said they’d be more likely to support knowing the project will create more than 3,000 jobs during construction and about $7 million annually to Huntington Beach schools and city services.