Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Carlsbad desal requirement may help, not hurt, planned Pendleton plant

The San Diego County Water Authority heard an update on the status of the Carlsbad desalination project and on the implementation of the SDCWA’s 2006 Desalination Action Plan during the CWA board’s Water Planning Committee meeting January 24 and what is a new obstacle for the Carlsbad plant may allow for better planning when the Camp Pendleton facility is ready to be designed.

The CWA’s Urban Water Management Plan calls for 56,000 acre feet per year of desalinated water by 2011 and 89,600 annual acre feet by 2030. The 2006 plan included completion of the Camp Pendleton feasibility study, evaluation of other regional projects (most prominently in the South Bay), and exploring smaller local seawater or brackish groundwater projects.

The Carlsbad plant would be built by Poseidon Resources and involves water purchase agreements with nine CWA member agencies totaling 63,000 acre feet per year. The project’s environmental impact report has been certified, and the facility is currently in the permitting process.

One of the permits required for the Carlsbad plant would be granted by the State Lands Commission, whose chair directed that the project must be “carbon-neutral.” Poseidon will prepare and submit a “Climate Action Plan” to the State Lands Commission.

That prohibition against any additional net carbon emissions will likely also apply to the Camp Pendleton plant when it is ready for the permitting stage. “It’s another regulatory issue that we’re going to have to deal with if we were to move forward,” said Bob Yamada, the CWA’s seawater desalination program manager.

The knowledge of such a potential requirement while the project is still in its conceptual stages becomes a benefit rather than an impediment. “Better to know this and plan for it early on than have to deal with it later in the project,” Yamada said. “I think it’s a benefit to be able to see how this is all going to play itself out.”

The Camp Pendleton plant would have a capacity of between 50 million gallons per day and 150 million gallons per day.

Although initial plans involved using intake pipes from a San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station unit which is scheduled for future closure, concerns by Southern California Edison have revised the study scope and the potential location is now on the southwest side of Camp Pendleton by the Santa Margarita River.

Both subsurface and open intake options are being explored, as is integrating the desalination plant’s discharge with existing Camp Pendleton wastewater treatment plant facilities.

The feasibility study is scheduled for completion in late 2008.

 

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