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DRY TIMES… Squid’s keen Spidey senses make Squid all-seeing, all-hearing and basically all-knowing – yet another reason why Cal Am president Kent Turner should start listening to Squid.

Turner wants to build a desalination plant in Moss Landing using the power plant’s once-through cooling system, drawing ocean water through industrial intakes, and killing fish and other marine organisms in the process. (An alternative to once-through cooling is beach wells, a pipeline beneath the ocean floor that uses sand to naturally filter out seaweed, fish and the like.)

On Nov. 15, the Coastal Commission will consider a proposed desal project in San Diego County, which would be located next to the Encina Power Station and would use once-through cooling to draw water from an adjacent lagoon. It would produce 50 million gallons of potable water per day. Commission staff have recommended denial because of the project’s harmful effects on marine life, and suggested the project use beach wells instead.

Squid’s going to predict that the commission will agree with its staff, and deny the permits for the San Diego project. This also means it’s likely that Cal Am’s preferred desal option isn’t going to get the green light from the commission, and the water company will have to scrap the project and start again with a look at beach wells. This, of course, means a longer wait for potable water on the Peninsula. Squid’s solution? Vodka.

NOT SO FINE LINE… As noted above, Squid sees, hears and knows all. Sometimes Squid wishes Squid could remain in blissful ignorance. Alas, that was not the case Saturday night at the Panetta Institute for Public Policy’s Jefferson-Lincoln awards ceremony honoring three distinguished journalists, Judy Woodruff, David Broder and Belva Davis. Squid could not help notice how Carolina Garcia greeted Leon Panetta: a hug and kisses on each cheek. Such affection is expected for a relative or close friend. But Garcia is executive editor of The Monterey County Herald, and is, according to the newspaper’s staff box, “responsible for content of news and opinion pages.” So Squid was surprised to see in Sunday’s Herald an article on the awards event stripped across the top of the front page. The story got better play than 2007 being the deadliest year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and one about increasing gas prices. Squid used all eight arms to scratch Squid’s head on this one. Journalists are supposed to keep their distance to maintain a level of independence, something for which all of Saturday’s honorees are known.