[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 8/16/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

August 16, 2007

 

2. Supply

 

DESALINATION:

City to explore buying water from proposed desalination plant - San Diego Union Tribune

 

SUPPLY PLANNING:

Water District approves master plan for building pipelines, more - North County Times

 

 

DESALINATION:

City to explore buying water from proposed desalination plant

San Diego Union Tribune – 8/16/07

By Lola Sherman and Michael Burge, staff writers

 

OCEANSIDE – The Oceanside City Council said yesterday that it is interested in buying water from a desalination plant that might be built in Carlsbad.

 

Council members voted unanimously to ask their staff to negotiate with the developer, Poseidon Resources, but a contract would have to return for action before Oceanside is committed to purchase the water.

 

Connecticut-based Poseidon has proposed building a 50 million-gallon-a-day ocean-water desalination plant on the grounds of the Encina Power Station, at Carlsbad Boulevard and Cannon Road in Carlsbad.

 

At yesterday's council meeting, Poseidon Senior Vice President Peter MacLaggan called desalination “a hedge against drought.”

 

“The more that we can be self-sufficient as a city the better off we are,” Councilman Jack Feller said.

 

The city of Oceanside uses 30 million gallons a day of water imported into the county via aqueduct from the Colorado River and Northern California. It treats 25 million gallons in its own filtration plant and buys 5 million gallons of already-treated water.

 

Desalinated water would supplement the imported water.

 

“This potential alternate water supply would be a local, drought-resistant source with a guaranteed cost and the potential for savings in the future,” Greg Blakely, administrative manager of the city Water Utilities Department said in a staff report.

The cost of the water, Blakely wrote, would be negotiated.

 

Poseidon has lined up five water districts – Carlsbad, Valley Center, Escondido-based Rincon del Diablo, Chula Vista-based Sweetwater and Rainbow – to buy its product.

 

Those agreements promise the agencies would pay no more for Poseidon's water than they pay the San Diego County Water Authority, the county's wholesaler, for its water.

 

To build the plant, Poseidon still must obtain a permit from the California Coastal Commission, which has scheduled a hearing in November in San Diego.  #

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070816/news_1mi16oside.html

 

 

SUPPLY PLANNING:

Water District approves master plan for building pipelines, more

North County Times – 8/16/07

By William Finn Bennett, staff writer

 

PALA INDIAN RESERVATION -- The San Luis Rey Municipal Water District board of directors unanimously approved Thursday a master plan for pipelines, reservoirs and the installation of water treatment and sewage systems to serve up to 7,600 new homes along Highway 76, east of Interstate 15.

That is the number of homes water district consultants said will be needed for the rural area by 2030, according to the master plan presented to the board and members of the public at Thursday's board meeting.

 

But despite the master plan, county land planning officials have said they do not approve of building that many homes in the area. So unless the county Board of Supervisors overrides the desires of the Department of Planning and Land Use or the department changes its mind, it is uncertain whether the water district's master plan will be implemented.

 

The report states that county officials are contemplating no more than 2,130 new homes in a draft version of the upcoming General Plan 2020, which is designed to plan for growth in the county by that year.

Referring to the county Board of Supervisors, water district consultant Jack Hoagland said it must be remembered that "five guys downtown" will ultimately make the decision on how much development will be allowed in the area, and the board can override the planning and land use department's recommendations. He added that the department is looking at development through 2020 and housing needs in the area could grow significantly between then and 2030.

The San Luis Rey district was formed by landowners in 1958 and exists primarily on paper, because it does not yet provide water services. In order to gain access to imported water supplies that would allow the housing boom in the area, the district had originally wanted to become a full-service water provider.

But in February, the San Diego County Water Authority, which sells imported water to its 24 member agencies, decided that it would not support San Luis Rey as a standalone member of that organization. Now, in order to get the water supplies it needs to move the project forward, San Luis Rey must merge with a larger water district.

Hoagland said he and another official have been meeting with officials from the larger Valley Center Municipal Water District about the possibility of that water district annexing San Luis Rey Municipal Water District.

Hoagland said that based on his talks, so far, with Valley Center Municipal Water District officials, he is "optimistic" that an agreement can be reached between the two agencies that will allow the annexation to occur. #

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/16/news/sandiego/18_13_468_15_07.txt

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