Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/86284
PROJECTS PROJECTPROGRESS NEW MONTEREY DESALINATION PLAN LAUNCHED BY CAL AM A 5.4-9.0 MGD (20,440-34,000 m3 in North Marina employing slant well intake technology remains at the heart of California American Water (Cal Am)'s latest proposal for supplying the Monterey Peninsula. Cal Am announced on 23 April 2012 that it had filed its /d) desalination plant located Landing halfway between Monterey and Santa Cruz, a city which is also talking about building its own desalination plant (see below). Pacific Grove, which adjoins Monterey, has an offer from Desal America to assist it at all stages of the process and pay any and all costs involved; and assist the city in raising the funds necessary to build and - eventually – own this facility. much-anticipated application with the California Public Utilities Commission to construct the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project, the company's proposed water solution to replace its current intake from the Carmel river in compliance with state-ordered pumping reductions. The new project also includes expansion of the company's current Aquifer Storage & Recovery program, conducted in cooperation with the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. In addition, the company proposes to purchase water from the Groundwater Replenishment Project (GWR) currently proposed by the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency and the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. "This project will require a significant investment on behalf of our customers," said Cal Am president Rob MacLean. "But getting off the Carmel river is a matter of extreme urgency. If we cannot develop a replacement water supply, the community, which already has residential per-capita water consumption of less than 50 GPD (190 L/d), will face devastating cutbacks." The introduction of groundwater replenishment as a major supply component is a new feature of the Cal Am proposal. Also new are company plans to keep financing costs to a minimum with a combination of State Revolving Fund loans and a proposal to fund a portion of the capital investment through a customer surcharge rather than through the company's rate base – the assets upon which regulated utilities are permitted to earn a rate of return. As part of its application, California American Water proposes to permit the desalination facility for 9 MGD (34,000 m3 the GWR is delayed and unable to deliver water in time to meet state-ordered cutbacks. The company anticipates the decision will be made in the last quarter of 2014 and will be based on how far the GWR has come in terms of its environmental review and other permitting work. Construction for the desalination and groundwater /d) in case replenishment facilities would need to begin by the first quarter of 2015. The company estimates that the project will cost between US$ 320 and US$ 370 million, depending on size and that the average bill is expected to increase by US$ 26.50 to US$ 38.50 per month to pay for the project. CITY VOTES TO JOIN CALIFORNIA DESALINATION PROJECT The city council of Pacific Grove in California voted on 18 April 2012 to establish a public agency relationship with Nader Agha of Desal America to be lead agency for a seawater desalination plant. Pacific Grove currently obtains most of its water from a distribution system operated by California American Water Company (Cal Am), which draws the water from the Carmel river. The Desal America plan is for a desalination plant at Moss | 24 | Desalination & Water Reuse | May-June 2012 OVERVIEW OF SANTA CRUZ DESALINATION PROJECT PUBLISHED factsheet includes a general overview of the project components, preliminary cost estimates, and the latest on the environmental review process. It provides information on why desalination was selected for further evaluation by the Soquel Creek Water District and the City of Santa Cruz. Copies of the fact sheet can be downloaded from the project website: www.scwd2desal.org. Design of the 2.5 MGD (9,450 m3 A new two-page factsheet on the proposed desalination project for the Californian City of Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek Water District has been published by the agencies. The 2.5 MGD (9,500 m3 /d) scwd2 HUNTINGTON BEACH DESALINATION STANDOFF OVER INTAKE SYSTEM Environmental group Orange County Coastkeeper (OC Coastkeeper) accused Poseidon Resources on 26 March 2012 of withholding information from the California Coastal Commission (CCC) about the proposed Huntington Beach desalination plant. OC Coastkeeper maintains that this is delaying the commission's ability to carry out a review of the project's feasibility. Poseidon, on the other hand, maintains that it believes it has supplied the CCC with adequate information and that the current standoff is a rerun of what happened at Carlsbad, where the company eventually bypassed the CCC staff and dealt directly with the commission itself. Referring to a CCC response on 20 March 2012 to Poseidon's most recent submission in February 2012, OC Coastkeeper says that Poseidon: l Provided out-of-date or inaccurate information from the August 2010 Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) regarding seismic hazards, tsunami risks, and presence of wetlands l Refused to identify intake velocities for its standalone operation that is required to assess marine life impacts from entrainment and impingement l Failed to include a final plan detailing the path of the Costa Mesa pipeline required to deliver the water Regional Desalination Project facility could begin in 2013, with treatment facility construction in 2014. /d) desalination plant's intake l Failed to provide the updated studies that show that the plant falls within the maximum inundation zone for tsunami risk l Failed to include the studies on seismic risks required by the SEIR given that a seismic fault runs directly under the proposed plant