CWA defers regional conveyance system study vote until November

The San Diego County Water Authority board vote on the regional conveyance system study was not expected to be unanimous but, when the motion was to defer action until November, the SDCWA board members voted unanimously for that postponement.

The CWA will thus discuss the potential study once again Nov. 19. The CWA board normally meets on the fourth Thursday of the month, but Nov. 26 is Thanksgiving.

“I certainly appreciate the board interest in taking extra time,” Jim Madaffer, board chair of CWA, said.

“This study involves a lot of complexities and it has generated a lot of interest, so it’s important that we take time for additional synthesis of different projections and variables in the different reports,” Sandra Kerl, general manager of CWA, said. “This is as it should be. These decisions will have generational impacts, and we look forward to additional discussions with our member agencies and other stakeholders over the next few months.”

In 2003, the CWA approved the Quantification Settlement Agreement which brings conserved water from the Imperial Irrigation District to San Diego County and involves lining the Coachella Canal and the All-American Canal. The agreement with IID is for 75 years and the agreement to obtain water from the lining of the canals is for 110 years.

The QSA included scheduled rate increases over the multidecade period, and the price of IID water is now tied to an inflation index. QSA supplies now account for approximately half of the CWA demands.

There is currently no direct aqueduct or pipeline from the Colorado River or even the All-American Canal to San Diego County. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California conveys the CWA’s water allocated under the QSA, and MWD charges a “wheeling” rate to transport the water.

In July 2019, the CWA board approved a two-phase study with Black & Veatch Corporation. The first phase focused on engineering and costs. The results of that phase indicate that the system is technically viable and likely economically competitive with utilizing MWD wheeling, and that phase also indicated that a regional conveyance system is worthy of further study.

Three alignments are being considered for the regional conveyance system. All three would begin at the All-American Canal in Imperial County. The southern tunnel alignment and the southern open trench alignment would run through the southern part of San Diego County and to the El Capitan Reservoir on the Lakeside-Alpine border. The northern tunnel alignment, which was most recently studied in 1996, would run north to approach the Salton Sea before a westward conveyance by Lake Henshaw and ultimately to the Twin Oaks Water Treatment Plant.

The open trench alignment has the lowest estimated construction cost at $4.86 billion but the highest annual operations and maintenance cost at $258 million and is not currently considered economically feasible. The two tunnel alignments were considered economically competitive based on the preliminary analysis. The southern tunnel alignment has an estimated construction cost of $4.96 billion and annual costs of $149 million. The northern tunnel alignment is estimated to cost $4.95 billion to build and $142 million annually to operate and maintain.

The second phase, which would perform a deeper economic and legal analysis, has a cost estimate of $1.3 million including CWA staff time. The deferral to November will provide time for additional dialogue with member agencies and outreach to stakeholders and has an estimated cost of $200,000.

Normally the CWA agenda including board letters is posted on the web the afternoon before the previous Thursday. Although the regional conveyance system was listed as an agenda item when the Aug. 27 agenda was posted Aug. 19, the board letter for the regional conveyance system was not posted at that time.

CWA staff presented the results of the first phase to the Colorado River Workgroup at that group’s Aug. 24 meeting. The staff recommendation to the workgroup was to defer the CWA decision on the second phase until November to allow time for additional dialogue with member agencies and outreach to stakeholders. The board letter was posted and made available to CWA board members following that Aug. 24 meeting.

“The only thing that will happen will be conversation, bringing people together,” Kerl said.

The dialogue will include Imperial County stakeholders.

“I think it’s completely reasonable to have a conservation with the Imperial Valley,” Dan Denham, deputy general manager of CWA, said.

The work before November would include developing a list of stakeholders for communication.

“If we don’t already have that list, we need to reach out,” Jerry Butkiewicz, who is one of the city of San Diego members on the CWA board, said. “I am 100% in support of this project. I want to make that perfectly clear, but I do support the staff recommendation.”

Opponents of the project also supported the continuance.

“I think three months is very, very reasonable,” Christy Guerin, board member of the Olivenhain Municipal Water District, who is Olivenhain’s representative on the CWA board, said. “This is a huge project.”

A study commissioned by 18 of the 24-member agency general managers indicated that the project would not be financially feasible.

“There’s a much different story out there,” Guerin said.

Although MWD obtains water from the Colorado River, including the QSA supply MWD wheels, MWD blends that with supply from the State Water Project whose water has lower salinity than the Colorado River supply.

“I’m concerned about the lower-quality water supply,” Kathleen Coates Hedberg, board member of Helix Water District, who is one of two Helix representatives on the CWA board, said.

One solution to the Colorado River water salinity would be a desalination plant at the Salton Sea.

“It’s extremely expensive and energy-intensive,” Tom Kennedy, general manager of Rainbow Municipal Water District, who is Rainbow’s representative on the CWA board, said.

The operational costs will include electricity as well as maintenance, and Kennedy said that future electric rates are uncertain.

“If you’re going to make a bet on future utility rates, you’ve got to make a small bet. This is a big bet,” he said. “The project has many challenges other than financial issues. I don’t think there’s a chance that we'll make it through the CEQA process.”

CEQA stands for California Environmental Quality Act.

“I think that this project was flawed fatally from the start,” Kennedy said.

Every $1 million spent by the CWA equates to $5 incurred by each Rainbow ratepayer.

“The study alone is going to take $20 out of the pocket of each of our ratepayers,” Kennedy said. “I think that’s just a waste of money.”

The $4 million expenditure includes $2.6 million for the first phase of the study.

The $200,000 of expenses until the November decision equates to $1 per Rainbow ratepayer.

“I wanted it to just go away now,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy was still willing to vote for the postponement.

“There wasn’t any point not to,” he said.

“We need to have the stakeholders involved," Hedberg said. “Right now is not the time to go forward. It needs to be really clear-cut.”

The second phase of the study is expected to take approximately one year.

“Twelve to 15 months seems reasonable,” Denham said.

“This has been a very difficult process,” Kerl said. “There are strong feelings on both sides of this project.”

The three-month postponement may allow for a more unified evaluation of issues.

“We need to be working together as the San Diego County Water Authority,” Gary Croucher, board member of Otay Water District, who was elected as the incoming CWA board chair earlier that day, said.

Croucher cited the lack of time the CWA board members had to analyze the information in the report.

“We need to be able to think on our own as individuals,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to having a little more bit of breathing room,” Kerl said.

“It’s really about conversation and understanding,” Kerl said. “Hopefully, we’re doing that process.”

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].