Another agency signs on to buy water from Poseidon’s Carlsbad Desalination Plant

The Rainbow Municipal Water District has agreed to purchase 7,500 acre-feet of water from the proposed Carlsbad desalination plant, bringing the total amount of water contracted for from the proposed plant up to 80%. Poseidon has most of the permits it needs, but faces a Coastal Commission hearing in November.

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

Poseidon Senior Vice President Peter MacLaggan said he believes the fact that the plant has lined up five water agencies – and likely will have others by the time of the hearing – will help it get a coastal permit.

“It’s a factor in that (the Coastal Commission staff has) been asking us to demonstrate there’s a need for the product and the amount we propose,” MacLaggan said. “It confirms what we’ve been telling them, that there’s a critical need for this.”

The capacity of the proposed plant is about 56,000 acre-feet a year, or enough to supply 112,000 households for a year.

MacLaggan has been stressing desalinated ocean water’s major virtue – that it is drought-proof – as he builds a case for the plant’s approval.

The state is dealing with a meager Sierra snowpack from last winter, a drought on the Colorado River and legal questions regarding the use of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Last month, state officials shut down the delta pumps that send water south in an effort to protect an endangered fish called smelt. To deal with impending shortages, the San Diego County Water Authority has asked all local residents to cut consumption by 20 gallons a month.

In addition, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the Sweetwater Reservoir in Spring Valley on Tuesday to stump for a $5.9 billion bond measure to build more reservoirs, create a new north-to-south aqueduct and develop other water infrastructure projects.

“Add all those things up and we’re in a dire situation with respect to water this year,” MacLaggan said. “The desalinated water is essentially viewed as a drought-proof source considering the Pacific Ocean is never going to dry out.”

To read the rest of this story from the San Diego Union Tribune, click here.

Here is an article from the Surfrider Foundation about desalination.

Comments

Admin

• Log in

Credits

Powered by Vertigo & WordPress
WordPress Themes by Brian Gardner