CARLSBAD — A proposed desalination plant in North County is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Poseidon Resources, Inc. now has two conditional approvals from two important regulatory agencies. On April 9, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board approved an environmental protection plan for the plant, which plans to turn ocean water into drinking water by the year 2011.

The plant will be located on the Encina Power Station property, along Carlsbad Boulevard, where it will take 300 million gallons per day of saltwater from the lagoon through an existing system currently used by the power plant. Utilizing reverse osmosis technology, the plant will then produce 50 million gallons a day of potable water before expelling the remaining water out into the ocean.

The California Coastal Commission gave conditional approval to the project last fall, prompting two environmental groups to join together to file a lawsuit against the Coastal Commission. Both the Surfrider Foundation and the Planning and Conservation League are claiming that the Coastal Commission approved the project without a clear understanding of the impacts the plant would have on marine life, air quality, water quality and the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, where the plant will be located. The 12-page complaint against the Coastal Commission alleges that the desalination project does not meet the Coastal Act conditions.

“For all legal purposes, it is final approval,” said Marco Gonzalez, an attorney with Coast Law Group, speaking on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation. “But you should have to show what you will do before you get your approval.

“However, Peter MacLaggan, general manager of Poseidon Resources, Inc., has said that the project will be environmentally sound and that Poseidon Resources is simply working out the details. MacLaggan said that the harm to marine life by the process will be minimal, and that Poseidon will do more good than harm to the environment. In addition, he said the future of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, where the water will be drawn from, will be even more secure with a proposed plan for Poseidon Resources to dredge the lagoon.

There are similar projects throughout the world, said MacLaggan, but once completed, the Carlsbad plant will be the largest in North America.

“Carlsbad has always been a leader in innovation and technology,” he added, explaining that San Diego is a leader in reverse osmosis, the type of filtration system used by desalination plants, and that the long-standing drought has brought the city and Poseidon Resources together.