Looking to the Ocean for Water Reliability

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Friday, May 4, 2007 | Rob Davis' story, "'Perfect Storm' Brewing for San Diego's Water Supply" is an insightful article that clearly presents the challenges our region faces in securing a reliable supply of drinking water.

Droughts and other threats to our water supply are not new to San Diego. For decades, our region has relied heavily on imported water, with almost 95 percent of our total supply coming from the Colorado River and the Sierra Nevada. Because the majority of our water is imported and out of our immediate control, San Diego's public water agencies have been required to plan for unanticipated service cuts and drought scenarios so that we can protect public health and the economy.

Over the years, local public water agencies have responded to water supply challenges by increasing conservation and recycling efforts. Collectively, San Diego's local and regional water conservation programs will reduce the region's reliance on imported water by more than 100,000 AFY by 2025. This is a good start, and conservation efforts are important; however, those of us responsible for providing the public with drinking water know that conservation and reclamation alone are not adequate. We must pursue new supplies of water that are drought-proof and locally-controlled.

With the Pacific Ocean at our door step, one option for a new water supply is seawater desalination. State, regional, and local water officials all have confirmed through approved planning documents that immediate and pressing water needs cannot be accomplished without some investment in seawater desalination. Specific to San Diego, the San Diego County Water Authority's Urban Water Management Plan identified a need for 56,000 acre-feet/year of seawater desalination by 2011.

The good news is that desalination is in San Diego's immediate future. Poseidon Resources, a private-sector water infrastructure specialist, has entered into a public-private partnership with the city of Carlsbad to build a desalination plant to supply 10 percent of the region's water supply needs at no risk to taxpayers. The importance of this project to the future of our region can not be understated.

Four San Diego County public water agencies -- Carlsbad Municipal Water District, Valley Center Municipal Water District, Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District and Sweetwater Authority -- have entered into long-term water-purchase agreements with Poseidon Resources to receive water from the Carlsbad desalination plant. Collectively, these agencies represent nearly 70 percent of the plant's 50-million-gallon-per-day (MGD) or 56,000-acre-feet/year capacity. Other public water agencies, including the Vallecitos Water District and the Olivenhain Municipal Water District are in discussions to purchase the desalination plant's remaining capacity. While we each have unique reasons for securing water from the Carlsbad plant, we share the common goal of improving water supply reliability in the San Diego region through reduced dependence on imported water.

The Carlsbad desalination plant needs a Coastal Development Permit from the California Coastal Commission before it can be built. After almost 10 years of planning and study, the plant is expected to have its Coastal Commission hearing later this year. With the end in sight, we encourage all of San Diego's public and private sector leaders to join us in support of the Carlsbad desalination plant. This is one instance when it comes to water supply where the future is in our hands.

-- GARY ARANT, MITCH DION, DENNIS BOSTAD, WILLIAM RUCKER and KIMBERLY A. THORNER

Gary Arant is the general manager for the Valley Center Municipal Water District. Mitch Dion is the general manager for the Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District. Dennis Bostad is the general manager for the Sweetwater Authority. William Rucker is the general manager for the Vallecitos Water District. Kimberly A. Thorner, Esq. is the general manager for the Olivenhain Municipal Water District

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3 Comments so far on this story...

Has MWD's Drought Management Plan been revised to exclude the Poseidon SWRO plant produced water? If not, the new water supply does not increase the regions water supply during a drought. Essentially, MWD will cut back on more supplies to SDCWA because it will recognize the Poseidon produced SWRO water as a MWD supply. As an example, MWD's Drought Management Plan if enacted during a drought would reduce all Southern California member agency supplies by 10 percent during a drought. MWD will count the Poseidon SWRO plant produced water as part of MWD's supply, because MWD provided a water conservation subsidy for every acre foot of water produced. The net result will be no regional gain in reducing the impacts of drought until MWD's Drought Management Plan is changed. That said, the Poseidon SWRO plant is worth pursuing for the benefit of diversifying the San Diego region's dependence on

Posted by Doug S | reply to this comment
May 4, 2007 12:48 am

The article makes no mention at all about what impact Poseidon's desalination plant will have on the ocean nor what effect privatization of water supplies has on the public. Poseidon proposes to use open ocean intake pipes for its water supply, thereby killing all marine life that passes through them. Poseidon could otherwise use sub-ocean bottom pipes that would not have such an open water impact, but that would cost them some money they don't want to spend. The article makes no mention of the huge battles about privatization of water supplies in other communities over the world, where private companies rip off the public and hold them hostage because water is such a necessity. No mention is made of Poseidon's miserable failure of its desalination project in Tampa Bay Florida. The upshot is that people should run, not walk, away from the proposed Poseidon desalination project

Posted by Jan Vandersloot | reply to this comment
May 4, 2007 12:46 pm

Ten years to get Coastal Commission approval for Carlsbad's desalination plant?! How discouraging. With the impending water crisis (some say by 2008), I suggest that Chula Vista divert their three hundred million subsidy for Gaylord's convention center to first building a desalination plant on our bayfront. I wanted to bring up such a suggestion at the last Gaylord-Chula Vista lovefest. But I knew I'd be lynched. Sure wish our elected officials had the foresight to plan for the urgent water needs of all our citizens instead of being blinded by Gaylord's TOT taxes--the first of which we will see in 2027. That's right. 2027. By then we'll all have died of dehydration.

Posted by Jackie Lancaster | reply to this comment
May 5, 2007 1:46 am

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