Mailbag: Desalination plant is an `enormous risk’ to ratepayers

I take great exception to the assumptions and conclusions in the commentary by South County resident Roger Butow (“Desalination is least harmful to environment, and it’s necessary,” (April 2). He is dead wrong when he contends that Poseidon is taking “all the financial risk” on the desalination plant project.

The citizens of Huntington Beach and the Orange County Water District (OCWD) ratepayers are taking an enormous risk in constructing the water transmission pipelines and foraging for customers of the ultra-expensive plant.

If the plant doesn’t work, or doesn’t operate effectively, we are on the hook for all of the consequences. The proposed “term sheet” puts an enormous financial burden on the public, allowing Poseidon to avoid any responsibility “beyond the fence” of the plant.

Mr. Butow is also wrong on his assumptions about negative impacts to our local coastal environment (easy for him to say living in Laguna Beach). He simply takes the Poseidon party line on these assertions (disturbing since Butow is a member of the OCWD’s new Ocean Desalination Citizens Advisory Committee and can hardly be considered objective by his comments).

Mr. Butow is also dead wrong on his alternatives to desalination, such as the OCWD’s Groundwater Replenishment System, which will produce 103,000 acre feet of water at much less than Poseidon’s desal product. That’s enough water to serve 850,000 people in our North County area.

It seems clear that OCWD board majority members have stacked the deck of its Citizens Advisory Committee to ensure that Poseidon’s message is the only one being taken seriously.

Tim Geddes

Huntington Beach

*Drought is dictating water needs

I represent Orange County Water Independence, Sustainability and Efficiency (OC WISE), a coalition of businesses, labor, community groups, nonprofit organizations and individuals committed to supporting and advocating the development of all forms of new water for Orange County, and would like to clarify several points.

Any discussion of water costs has to be considered in the context of the drought, the cost of importing water, and the fact that imported water can no longer be taken for granted.

Recently, Gov. Jerry Brown and his administration, citing the drought, imposed mandatory conservation measures and called on water districts to begin acting as if the state might be in the midst of a millennial drought. This is exactly what the Orange County Water District is doing, and it should be commended.

The value of desalinated water has to be viewed in the following context:

Approximately 50% of Orange County’s water supply is imported from Northern California and the Colorado River. These water sources are not considered reliable or sustainable for future generations. Because of the drought, the California State Water Project cut its deliveries to 5% in 2014, and 2015 deliveries are projected to be in the 10% to 15% range. The California snowpack, the most reliable indicator of the state’s water health, is at 13% of normal.

Thirty-one percent of the water used in north and central Orange County is from the Colorado River. The river supplies water for 30 million people in multiple states and is one of the most contested rivers on Earth. Water deliveries to California from the Colorado were at their lowest ever in 2014, and 2015 is expected to be the same or lower. Orange County’s population is expected to grow by 300,000 people by 2020.

Having projected a 75,000-acre-foot-a-year water shortfall by 2035, the OCWD board would be prudent in accepting the term sheet for the Huntington Beach desalinated-water project, thereby ensuring 50 million gallons a day of reliable, drought-proof water for the county.

Robert Sulnick

Executive director, OC WISE