|
Monterey County Herald-April 15, 2007
Desalination proposal takes center stage
Water summit: Size, impact on sea life major concerns
By BRIAN SEALS
Herald Correspondent
Article Last Updated: 04/15/2007 01:27:40 AM PDT
Alternatives to desalination and staying involved in the decision-making process were the main messages early Saturday as about 50 people attended an event called People's Water Summit at the Monterey Senior Center.
The summit was sponsored by Citizens for Public Water and Democracy Unlimited Monterey County.
While panel experts touched on environmental conditions around the Monterey Bay, the evils of bottled water and corporate-owned water, California American Water's proposed desalination plant at Moss Landing — and how residents can navigate the state Public Utilities Commission's approval process — took center stage.
Some assailed Cal Am's desalination proposal because of its impact on sea life, while others said the plan was too big. To David Dilworth, of Helping our Peninsula's Environment, the question of the plant's size suggested a strategy for stopping it.
"The bigger we make the desalination plant, the more likely it is to fail," Dilworth said.
A better plan, said Dilworth, would be a "right-sized" desalination plant combined with things such as storing water in aquifers, repairing leaky lines, reducing water pressure, and requiring golf courses to use reclaimed water.
He said such a multi-pronged plan was launched by the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District in 2003, but a change in board members left the plan on a shelf.
Cal Am Vice President Steve Leonard, who was present to observe the panel, said the company considered a range of alternatives and didn't take the desalination path lightly or as being an exclusive solution.
"We are continuing to look for water solutions," he said.
Cal Am's Web site states its Coastal Water Project "encompasses more than desalination." The proposed desalination facility is the Coastal Water Project's "central feature," but the site adds that the CWP "will create a comprehensive water supply through an efficiency and demand management program, including aquifer storage and recovery in addition to desalination."
One panelist called the process for drawing fresh water from sea water too energy-intensive at a time when fuel prices are rising and because of carbon dioxide emissions that could result from fueling such a plant.
"I believe it's actually a waste of money to build it," said Deborah Lindsey of Sustainable Monterey County. "It will be impossible due to rising fuel costs to even run it."
One way to offset the demand for desalination would be conservation measures, such as home systems that use rainwater for household uses, she said.
Leonard reacted with skepticism about the effectiveness of the proposed water alternatives. Conservation is part of the solution, he said, but Monterey water customers use about half the water than is used in Southern California, he said. Plus, the company is under a state order to provide more supply to ease pressure on water coming from the Carmel River.
"We have to solve the problem," said Leonard. "We need to keep moving forward."
Cal Am's plan for an approximately $200 million desalination plant is winding its way through the Public Utilities Commission approval process and will need approval from the California Coastal Commission. That process is stacked in favor of utilities and corporations, said George Riley of Citizens for Public Water.
Riley cited Cal Am leaders meeting with PUC staff and influencing its recommendations as proof.
"The PUC is in the hands of the corporations, there's no way around it," Riley said. "The PUC is not your friend."
Even Fred Curry, a PUC staff member, agreed that is a concern. Regulators often get cozy with the people they are regulating because they have constant contact, something he called "regulatory capture."
But the PUC's ratepayer advocate division gives frustrated residents someone to call when they are fed up with their water provider. He said, the division is there to enable residents to get involved and that it can tell customers if they have a good case in arguing against a utility's proposals.
|
