Water. desalination + reuse

PROJECTS PROJECTPROGRESS CauTiOuS ThumbS-uP fOR REd-dEad PROJECT fEaSibiliTy The large-scale conveyance of seawater from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea is technically possible and could deliver large amounts of desalinated water using conventional processes. This is among the preliminary conclusions of the Red Sea Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program posted on the World Bank/RDC website on 13 December 2011 in the form of a Q&A session. The feasibility of an 850 million m3/year desalination plant sited at the southern end of the Dead Sea was examined, and the survey believes that a plant this size would substantially address the issue of sustainable access to water in the region. The estimated cost of a full-scale conveyance project, including the supply pipes to urban centers, would be over US$ 10 billion, says the study. It also points to risks in mixing seawater and/or desalination brine with the Dead Sea water ���especially when the amounts exceed 300 million m3/year���. A conveyance project would also pose environmental and social impacts, says the report, mostly during construction. Through various studies, these impacts have been evaluated in terms of alternatives and measures to mitigate, manage and monitor such impacts. The draft final reports on the Study Program should be available on the website early in 2012. Cal am lEavES mOnTEREy PROJECT, buT dESalinaTiOn STill REquiREd California American Water (Cal Am) announced on 17 January 2012 that it had withdrawn support of the agreements behind the Monterey Regional Desalination Project. The company had proposed the project with Marina Coast Water District (MCWD) and Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) in response to limits which will be put on its abstractions from the Carmel river by 2016. ���Desalination will be part of the Monterey Peninsula���s future water supply, but the Regional Desalination Project will not be the vehicle to deliver it,��� said California American Water president Rob MacLean. ���Recognizing the severity of the state���s cutback order, we must now move forward on an alternative water supply project as quickly as possible.��� MCWRA, MCWD and California American Water have been engaged in mediation since August 2011 and have been unable to reach agreement on how to address multiple challenges facing the regional project. However, MacLean stressed that a desalination project will still have to be developed. California American Water and Monterey County have agreed to continue discussions over resolving remaining project issues and finding a water supply solution, and have stated that they encouraged Marina Coast Water District to participate in these talks. The company prepared a study of water supply alternatives capable of meeting the area���s water shortage late last year. The study identified 11 physical solutions, all of which require additional | 22 | Desalination & Water Reuse | February-March 2012 transmission and storage infrastructure. According to MacLean, obtaining Commission approval to proceed is necessary to ensure progress on a water supply project while the company determines its next steps. MacLean added that any new water project will require permits or approvals from the California Public Utilities Commission, California Coastal Commission and the County of Monterey. The Cease & Desist Order issued by the State Water Resources Control Board in 2009 set a schedule for pumping reductions on the Carmel River, which will cut the area���s water supply by more than half in 2017 unless a new water project is developed. finanCial mEETingS hEld OvER gaza dESalinaTiOn Plan ��� The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) announced on 18 January 2012 that a delegation headed by deputy secretary general Rafiq Husseini visited Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during the previous week to present the Gaza water desalination project to financing institutions and funds. The UfM Delegation held meetings with the president of the Islamic Development Bank, Ahmed Ali Mohamed, with the vicechairman and director general of the Saudi Fund for Development, Youssef Al-Bassam, as well as with the director of operations of the Kuwait Fund, Fawzi Al-Hunaif, and senior officials from the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development. The UfM says that its visit was positively welcomed by the Arab financing institutions and funds, which encouraged its secretariat in its endeavours to promote the project. The UfM is providing support to the promoter of the project, the Palestinian Water Authority, in raising the resources required to finance the project, which could amount to US$ 450 million. Detailed estimations are expected to be provided through the update of the Gaza desalination feasibility study, currently being undertaken by the European Investment Bank. The Gaza Desalination project was the very first project to be labeled by the UfM, with a unanimous decision by its 43 member countries. It consists of the construction of a 100 million m3/year desalination facility and distribution system in the Gaza strip over two phases. ��� afTER Eu launChES lOw-vOlumE dESalinaTiOn PROJECT A ��� 10 million desalination project for the Gaza Strip was launched on 12 December 2011 by the European Union (EU) as part of its latest contribution to supporting the Palestinian Authority. The EU also established a diploma programme at the Palestinian Judicial Institute. The acting EU representative, John Gatt-Rutter, signed a memorandum of understanding with the head of the Palestinian Water Authority as well as representatives of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility and UNICEF to note the agreement for the short-term low-volume desalination facility that will be constructed in the Gaza Strip over the coming three years.

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