Top Monterey County officials met in early 2011 to discuss ways
to dump the Marina Coast Water District from the regional
desalination project, raising questions about the county’s
efforts to make the three-pronged project partnership work and
potentially affecting civil litigation aimed at unraveling the
failed proposal.
“The crews are building what boosters say represents California’s
best hope for a drought-proof water supply: the largest ocean
desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. The $1 billion
project will provide 50 million gallons of drinking water a day
for San Diego County when it opens in 2016.”
“Thanks to improved technology, turning ocean water into
freshwater is becoming more economically feasible. And a
looming global water crisis may make it crucial to the planet’s
future.
‘Whenever a drought exacerbates freshwater supplies in
California, people tend to look toward the ocean for an
answer,” said Jennifer Bowles, executive director of the
California-based Water Education Foundation.’”
“This seaside city thought it had the perfect solution the last
time California withered in a severe drought more than two
decades ago: Tap the ocean to turn salty seawater to fresh
water.”
“The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking proposals from
universities, water utilities, private industry and others to
address a broad range of desalting and water purification needs.
Reclamation is interested in research that will have national
significance and where the benefits of the technology will be
widespread.”
“Israel has gone through one of the driest winters in its
history, but despite the lean rainy season, the government has
suspended a longstanding campaign to conserve water. …
“The reason: Israel has in recent years achieved a quiet water
revolution through desalination.”
From the Los Angeles Times, in the Capitol Journal column by
George Skelton:
“Gov. Jerry Brown enjoys a unique position that no California
governor has been in for 68 years. He is a virtual shoo-in for
reelection.
“That gives him an extremely rare opportunity to rise above
conventional political rhetoric and open a substantive dialogue
with voters about the state’s future direction.
“Besieged by drought and desperate for new sources of water,
California towns are ramping up plans to convert salty ocean
water into drinking water to quench their long-term thirst. The
plants that carry out the high-tech “desalination” process can
cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but there may be few other
choices for the parched state.”
“For more than a
decade, local water districts in South County have partnered
with cities to explore the possibility of developing a
desalination plant in Dana Point to convert ocean water to
drinkable water for the area.
“After years of testing, some partners are ready to move
forward with permitting for the eventual construction of a
plant, but funding is a huge obstacle and not all of the
partners are sure they can afford it.”
From the Los Angeles Times, in a commentary by David
Helvarg:
“Californians used to call it earthquake weather, the
unseasonably warm, dry, blue-sky days that pushed deep into this
year’s rainy season. Now we just call it drought.”
“One year after construction began, the $1 billion Carlsbad
desalination plant is under budget and on schedule to begin
producing 50 million gallons of drinking water per day two
years from now. …
“Poseidon Water, the private company building the plant, and
the water authority, which is partnering on the project, will
give tours of the plant Wednesday to local media and
politicians.”
“The city of Santa Cruz opened the application process Thursday
for a new citizen-led advisory panel that will study water
supply and management options for at least the next year.
“The City Council approved the formation of the 14-member task
force Nov. 26 to lead a new public outreach effort on water
planning.
“In a rare example of regional cooperation, Israeli, Palestinian
and Jordanian officials have signed an agreement aimed at
generating new water sources for all three and saving the Dead
Sea, a unique nature site and prime economic asset.”
From The Desert Sun, in a commentary by Jerome H. Holmlund:
“The Salton Sea water loss poses a growing environmental and
economic threat to the Coachella Valley, Imperial County and
the state. …
“In the 21st century, why should the Coachella Valley and
Imperial County be threatened with severe economic and
environmental problems, and the Salton Sea’s preservation
questioned, to transfer water from a desert to cities on the
shores of the Pacific Ocean?
“A state Public Utilities Commission judge has indefinitely
postponed review of a highly secretive settlement agreement
proposal between California American Water and Monterey County
over the failed regional desalination project.”
“If you’d like to know more about what the Monterey County
government staff did to help get a desalination plant, or what
they might have done to make the project fail, well you can
forget about it. You may be paying for their work, but what
they did is none of your business.
“That’s how the Public Utilities Commission sees it.”
“State coastal commissioners Wednesday postponed a vote on a
proposed seawater desalination plant after concluding that they
lacked the information to decide whether a key part of the
proposal should be redesigned.
