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By DOUG WILHELM and DALE HEKHUIS
Guest commentary The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA), a public nonprofit, is considering whether to purchase about 50,000 acre-feet of desalinated water annually from Poseidon Resources, for-profit, privately owned water development company. Poseidon would construct, operate and own the facility in Carlsbad, adjacent to the Encina Power Station. The project has obtained all the required environmental permits and clearances. If constructed, this would be the first large-scale desal plant in California. A contract could be signed by the end of the year.
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By DOUG WILHELM and DALE HEKHUIS
Guest commentary The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA), a public nonprofit, is considering whether to purchase about 50,000 acre-feet of desalinated water annually from Poseidon Resources, a for-profit, privately owned water development company. Poseidon would construct, operate and own the facility in Carlsbad, adjacent to the Encina Power Station. The project has obtained all the required environmental permits and clearances. If constructed, this would be the first large-scale desal plant in California. A contract could be signed by the end of the year. However, our interest in the Poseidon project is not with its large scale, but rather with the San Diego Authority’s path-breaking water purchase agreement. There are three critical elements in this agreement that are of special interest to Monterey water ratepayers. By JEFF THOMAS / President, Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) Board of Directors
There is a misconception that the tap water we use when we brush our teeth, shower, wash our clothes or water our lawns is overpriced. The water delivered directly to our homes and businesses is clean, filtered and is monitored more closely than bottled water, which is about 300 times more expensive than tap water. Tap water costs less than one penny for three gallons. Bottled water costs more than a dollar per gallon. Still, our water bill seems to go only one direction – up. USA Today released a new report that stated water bills in Southern California have increased anywhere from 67 to 141 percent over the past decade. Much of this increase is related to outside rate hikes from imported water sources.Today, Orange County is about 50 percent self-reliant on local water supplies and local water projects while the other half of our water is imported from Northern California or the Colorado River. To protect ourselves from unpredictable rate increases as well as future droughts and natural disasters that could cut off our imported water supply, it is imperative that we develop new local water projects that will make Orange County more self-reliant and less reliant on outside forces that may or may not be able to deliver in a crisis. By JEFF THOMAS / President, Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) Board of Directors
There is a misconception that the tap water we use when we brush our teeth, shower, wash our clothes or water our lawns is overpriced. The water delivered directly to our homes and businesses is clean, filtered and is monitored more closely than bottled water, which is about 300 times more expensive than tap water. Tap water costs less than one penny for three gallons. Bottled water costs more than a dollar per gallon. Still, our water bill seems to go only one direction – up. USA Today released a new report that stated water bills in Southern California have increased anywhere from 67 to 141 percent over the past decade. Much of this increase is related to outside rate hikes from imported water sources.Today, Orange County is about 50 percent self-reliant on local water supplies and local water projects while the other half of our water is imported from Northern California or the Colorado River. To protect ourselves from unpredictable rate increases as well as future droughts and natural disasters that could cut off our imported water supply, it is imperative that we develop new local water projects that will make Orange County more self-reliant and less reliant on outside forces that may or may not be able to deliver in a crisis.  In the 12 years since a desalination plant was first proposed for Huntington Beach, a lot of things have changed. But public support for the idea not only remains strong, it’s strengthening. Poseidon Resources is the company that wants to build a $350 million project that it says would turn out 50 million gallons of water a day. Its PR firm is circulating a “scientific public opinion research survey” of Huntington Beach voters, showing that almost two-thirds of those surveyed support the desal plant, many strongly, and just one-quarter oppose it. A story back in February in the LA Times lays out the arguments of Poseidon’s supporters and opponents.
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