Precautions taken to ensure reliable water supply during pandemic
SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE
By Phil Diehl

CARLSBAD — As of Friday, 10 workers are quarantined inside the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plan for the next three weeks, monitoring and adjusting gauges and switches, watching for leaks, and doing whatever is needed to safeguard San Diego County’s only significant local source of drinking water.

“We asked some employees to be locked down at the plant for 21 days to isolate the risk of infection,” said Gilad Cohen, CEO of IDE Americas, the global company that operates the Carlsbad plant and others around the world.
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The request for volunteers was a precaution against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Team of mission-critical employees proactively lock in at Carlsbad plant to ensure continued production of a safe water supply
 
CARLSBAD, Calif., March 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Poseidon Water, manager of the Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant.
"As manager of the Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant in San Diego County, our top priority is to ensure the health and safety of the employees and compliance with stringent state and federal standards for the production of a safe and healthy drinking water supply. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are taking extraordinary steps to ensure there is uninterrupted production and delivery of safe and reliable water for San Diego County. In response to the rapidly evolving situation, we have been working with our Plant Operator (IDE Americas Inc.) to assemble a team of mission-critical employees to shelter in place at the Carlsbad plant. 

Facility ownership transfer approved by Water Authority Board; Poseidon to continue plant management
 
Carlsbad, Calif. (October 24, 2019) – Bonds from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and pipeline were upgraded to BBB and given a stable outlook in a new report from Fitch Ratings, affirming the project’s sound management and its ability to provide a stable, reliable source of drinking water to the San Diego region. As the largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient plant of its kind in the nation, the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant’s stability stems from an effective collaboration between Poseidon Water and the San Diego County Water Authority.
 
That partnership will continue under a transfer of ownership from Orion Water Partners to Aberdeen Standard Investments approved Thursday by the Water Authority’s Board of Directors. The transfer – made public in June – will not alter day-to-day operations at the Carlsbad facility or create a fiscal impact to the Water Authority.

Innovative Public-Private Partnership Creates Reliable Water Supply for Region
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Carlsbad, CA (October 7, 2019) – The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant maintains an investment grade rating in the latest report from Fitch Ratings, affirming the plant’s sound financial management and its ability to provide a stable, reliable source of drinking water to the San Diego region.  As the largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient desalination plant in the nation, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant’s revenue stability stems from an effective collaboration between Poseidon Water and the San Diego County Water Authority.
 
“We are pleased by the acknowledgement that the Carlsbad Desalination Plant continues to be financially strong,” said Carlos Riva, CEO of Poseidon Water. “The plant is meeting all financial obligations and making debt service payments on schedule. The benefits of the public-private partnership are working exactly as intended to protect the Water Authority and its customers.”