Poseidon Water marked the one-year anniversary of construction of the Carlsbad Desalination Project with a news conference in which officials announced that the project is 25 percent complete, on budget and on track to open in 2016.

When finished, the plant will be the largest seawater desalination plant in the western hemisphere, providing 50 million gallons of water a day, about 7 percent of the region’s water demand. As cranes swiveled in the background — placing large blue racks which will hold the filters that will to turn seawater into drinking water through reverse osmosis — officials remarked at the swift pace of construction, especially in contrast to the nearly 12-year planning and permitting process, delayed by lawsuits and other setbacks. “It’s a pleasure to be here today, to mark what we’ve done in the last 12 months, which is far more than was done in the last 12 years, which was as long as this project sat on the shelves,” said Thomas V. Wornham, chairman of the San Diego Water authority. The $1 billion project, housed on land on the Encina Power Station owned by NRG Energy Inc., will help the county diversify its portfolio of water sources, and will make up about a third of the water generated in San Diego County (other locally-created water sources include recycling and ground water and local water sources). Carlos Riva, CEO of Poseidon Water, pointed out that the water generated by the project will be “drought-proof,” providing drinking water that could serve up to 112,000 households in the county. The Carlsbad Desalination Project will require running 132,000 linear feet of pipe underground, which is the equivalent length of 14 Golden Gate bridges. The pipeline will use 11,000 tons of steel pipe segments, which is roughly the same weight as 88 blue whales. So far, nearly two miles of pipeline has already been installed. The construction project is a joint venture by J.F. Shea Construction, Inc. and Kiewit Infrastructure West. IDE Technologies, Ltd. is engineering the desalination process and the related equipment and handle plant operations. Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall said the construction has brought nearly $350 million to the local economy and created 2,500 construction-related jobs. “This has got to be one of the … premier projects throughout this whole country,” Hall said. “As the mayor of Carlsbad, I’m really glad to have it here… I cant wait for 2016 when were here to actually cut the ribbon and see this project completed.”

Pictured on top of this story: Peter MacLaggan of Poseidon Water speaks at a news conference to mark the one-year anniversary of construction of the Carlsbad Desalination Project.