Water Board Acts to Protect Coast and Delta from Devastating Power Plant Cooling Systems

The CA State Water Resources Control Board adopted a final state Policy that will put California on a path to compliance with the Clean Water Act’s requirements for power plant cooling systems. Nineteen California coastal and Delta power plants use World-War II-era, “once-through cooling” (OTC) systems that pull in up to 16 billion gallons of coastal and Delta waters every year, killing marine life pulled into the plant and destroying many species caught on the plants’ screens. The Board’s new Policy will require power plants to phase out the impacts of this devastating practice. Surfrider Foundation partnered with the CA Coastkeeper Alliance on earlier lawsuits as well as a statewide advocacy campaign to urge the Water Board to make the right decision.