Amid California’s list of contentious desalination proposals, the plant slated for Doheny Beach in Dana Point has had remarkably smooth sailing.
Key environmental groups battling plans in Huntington Beach and El Segundo have largely taken a hands-off approach to the south Orange County project, recognizing Doheny’s innovative environmental technology and dearth of local water options there. Additionally, a draft countywide analysis earlier this month ranked Doheny well above the Huntington Beach plant proposed by the Poseidon company.
But there could be rougher waters ahead. Concerns with cost, the reliability of the unprecedented pumping technology and the prospect of the relatively small South Coast Water District shouldering sole responsibility for the $107 million project are arousing wariness among two of the district’s five board members. Those worries have also prompted an ardent desalination opponent to declare his candidacy in November’s board elections, effectively making the race a referendum on the plant.
That desalination foe, Markus Lenger, would add muscle to the skepticism of father-and-son board members Dennis and Doug Erdman.
“Whether this is a long-term benefit to our ratepayers is a question that needs far greater study before we come to a final answer,” said board member Dennis Erdman at an Oct. 16 candidates forum.
Erdman helped stall $192,000 in additional funding to the project last month before joining in a unanimous vote Oct. 18 to finally approve the spending. He and Doug Erdman have been generally supportive of the concept but leery of numerous details.
Dennis Erdman and Bill Green, a solid supporter of the project, are running for reelection next month. Rounding out the race for the two seats is Lenger, whose CleanBlu company’s products include wastewater recycling systems.
If the incumbents are reelected, the project is more likely to proceed with minimal obstruction. If Lenger replaces Green, the Erdmans would likely find an ally in any efforts to further slow the process.
Looking for partners
The Municipal Water District of Orange County’s draft analysis of major Orange County water projects underscored pros and cons of the Doheny plant.
It was particularly encouraging about the prospect of the plant producing 15 million gallons a day to be used throughout the southern region of the county.
Because of a lack of groundwater aquifer space, south Orange County imports about 90 percent of its water from northern California and the Colorado River. Most of north and central Orange County, which would be served by the much larger Poseidon project in Huntington Beach, import just 25 percent.
South Orange County’s dependence on imported water means that if an earthquake interrupts that flow, there would be drastic shortages. And during droughts, cutbacks of imported water would squeeze the south part of the county disproportionately.
Those are two key factors in MWDOC’s analysis ranking the Doheny plant as the No. 1 project in the county — if the water is shared with other districts throughout south county.
But so far the South Coast Water District, with 12,500 metered customers accounting for 35,000 residents, has no partners among the region’s eight other districts.
It’s proceeding alone with plans for a smaller capacity producing 5 million gallons a day, which is still more water than the district uses some days in the winter.
SCWD’s solo approach ranked No. 4 in the analysis of eight projects, with two versions of the Poseidon plant ranking 7th and 8th.
SCWD current plans include the option of expanding the plant if partners come aboard.
But it’s a Catch-22 situation: SCWD would like partners to share the cost and the risk as they plunge into the project, while neighboring water districts want to see SCWD complete the environmental review process and get the necessary permits before they commit.
Nonetheless, other districts are watching the progress closely.
“We’ve been looking at it in more and more depth,” said Don Bunts, deputy general manager of the Santa Margarita Water District. He noted a $10 million state grant SCWD has qualified for and the possibility of as much as $20 million in federal grants.
“Some of the new information indicates that the cost (for customers) is coming down to what might be price effective. They’re getting the boxes checked.”
Risk of innovation
Lenger, the SCWD board candidate opposed to desalination, expects costs to outstrip projections and instead wants the district to more extensively pursue graywater reuse and recycling wastewater.
But SCWD Acting General Manager Rick Shintaku describes the district’s recycling, conservation and stormwater capture efforts as already aggressive.
He said that with the pending grants and an expected low-interest loan from the state, desalted water would be nearly as cheap as water imported by the district — less than the $5 hike for the average Tier 2 household the district predicted before factoring in the possibility of federal grants.
Lenger counters that approvals are still needed for two key grants and that the energy-intensive operation is at the mercy of fluctuating electrical costs. He predicts unforeseen expenses, particularly in connection with the innovative pumping technology.
“You’re doing something that has never been done before,” he said. “To think it’s going to come in on budget is unreasonable.”
That new approach is considered by many environmentalists to be less harmful to the ocean ecosystem, and is now the preferred approach in the state’s official Ocean Plan.
Proposals in Huntington Beach and El Segundo would take advantage of the direct intake pipes previously used by adjacent power plants to pump in ocean water for cooling. However, the state’s preferred approach is sub-surface slant wells, which burrow underground and suck the water through the sand.
The slant wells avoid the threat to larvae and fish eggs posed by direct intake pipes.
Slant wells have been used on a test basis at Doheny and at a similar project site in Monterey, but haven’t been used at an operational plant running at capacity. Shintaku acknowledged that private companies interested in operating the plant don’t want to take responsibility for the unknown maintenance risks posed by new technology.
But he says the district has done “due diligence” in testing the wells and that they would be phased in over several years to allow for tweaking if necessary. Additionally, polling of area residents has found support for desalination.
“We’re doing what the board and the public wants,” Shintaku said. “The industry is going in this direction.”
The big one
Dennis Erdman is also concerned about embarking on the project when the district is in the middle of installing a $100 million oceanfront sewer pipe. That project is expected to be completed by June 2022.
“If we wait a few years, those (financial) models look better,” said Erdman, a former water district general manager himself. “It also gives us more time to get partners on board.”
But board member Green prefers to keep the current momentum going, given the lack of alternatives if an earthquake cuts off imported water supplies.
“When the big one comes, we better have water,” Green said. “It’s not a matter of ‘if.’ It’s a matter of ‘when.’”
Updated Nov. 1, 2019 for clarity.
