Desalination debate is on

Dave Brooks

Backers of a controversial desalination project say Southern

California is thirsty for a reliable water supply, but many wonder if

the region will be able find someone to pick up the tab.

Even by the most optimistic estimates, the water produced by the

proposed desalination plant before the Huntington Beach City Council

would cost nearly double what Orange County now pays for the most

expensive imported water.

Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources wants to build a $250-million

desalination facility behind the AES power plant and convert 50

million gallons of seawater into drinking water per day. Poseidon

officials said the unprecedented plant could bring some stability to

the region’s tumultuous water supply by tapping into an infinite

source -- seawater.

Opponents of the project argue that the high energy costs of

desalinating water mean final, drinkable product would cost three to

four times what some families now pay. With cheaper initiatives

underway to increase imports from Northern California and convert

sewage into drinking water, many wonder who would be willing to pay

$400 to $550 a year for the precious commodity.

“The big key is ‘How bad do you need the water?’” Wes Bannister of

the Orange County Water District said. “If you need the water bad

enough, you’ll pay for it.”

Desalination’s biggest expenses are energy costs associated with

separating water molecules from salt molecules during a process

called reverse osmosis. Large amounts of energy are expended trying

to push the molecules through a small membrane filter to separate the

salt from the water and make the seawater drinkable.

Poseidon officials estimate that desalinated water will cost about

$850 per acre-foot -- a pool of water an acre in size and one foot

deep, or a year’s worth of water for two families.

Conversely an acre-foot of water imported from Northern California

costs Huntington Beach residents about $490, city utilities director

Howard Johnson said, while groundwater is pumped at $285 per

acre-foot. Huntington Beach residents pump about 65% of their water

and import the rest, Johnson said.

Over time, the increasing scarcity of water coupled with a growing

California population might push the cost of import and groundwater

closer to that of desalinated water, but water officials say

Poseidon’s cost-estimate might be overly optimistic and estimate that

desalinated water could cost closer to $900 to $1,100 per acre-foot.

At least five other water agencies in Southern California are

considering building desalination facilities, but all forecast much

higher water costs than Poseidon’s projections. The Los Angeles

Department of Water and Power estimated its desalinated water would

sell for as much as $1,033 per acre foot, while the Long Beach Water

District estimated the price could be as high as $1,171 -- and each

would be purchasing electricity at prices nearly 30% lower than what

Poseidon expects to pay.

Converted seawater’s heavy reliance on energy also makes it

subject to fluctuations in the commodities market. A March 2004

report by the California Coastal Commission estimates that if the

price of a kilowatt of electricity were to increase just one cent, it

would push the price of desalinated water up by $50 an acre-foot.

“Electricity is the single largest component of cost and we don’t

know how much it is going to increase, but it appears inevitable that

it will increase,” said Jonas Minton of the Sacramento-based Planning

and Conservation League. Minton’s group is advocating for increased

conservation to sustain the state’s water needs.

To deal with changes in the market, Poseidon “can negotiate

long-term arrangements for all the commodity elements,” said company

Senior Vice President Billy Owens.

But even with locked-in costs, it remains unclear whether the

driest neighborhoods in Orange County would be willing to pay for

desalinated water that’s nearly 50% more than its imported

counterpart.

“Why would you buy it if you had water a lot cheaper at other

places,” said Bannister, adding that the water district is currently

working with Irvine officials to import water from Sacramento for

$500 to $600 an acre-foot.

Owens said the Poseidon desalination plant is part of a larger

long-term effort to diversify water availability and that over time,

the costs of desalinated water would level with demand and the

increasing scarcity of imported water.

“We look at this as part of a longer plan of execution for a set

of projects proposed by the Metropolitan Water District (of Southern

California),” Owens said.

A water master plan by the agency does call for the use of some

desalination after the plan expires in 2020, but Bannister said the

agency envisioned water agencies creating publicly held desalination

plants, not necessarily private endeavors. Either way, he said he

sees desalination as an emergency mechanism that could provide water

during a severe drought or natural disaster.

“Bottom line, the water is always going to be there unless the

plant itself somehow becomes incapacitated,” he said.

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