ON THE WATER FRONT
by Bob Hazard
Mr. Hazard is an Associate Editor of this paper and a former president of Birnam Wood Golf Club
The Future of Desal: Where We Go from Here
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record number of Montecito residents turned out last week to review the conceptual Desalination Feasibility Study commissioned by the Montecito Water District (MWD). Every one of the 200 seats was taken, with a standing audience of some 50 additional attendees, all hoping to hear a positive plan to end rationing and secure long-term water security for Montecito at an affordable price. The two-hour presentation from Paul Findley and Kevin Thomas of the RBF Consulting Group focused on the complexities associated with a 2,500-acrefoot-per-year Montecito desalination plant, including a detailed primer on various intake systems and the arduous permitting and regulatory processes surrounding seawater desalination. Many who came prepared to support a comprehensive local plan for long-term water security for Montecito left in frustration because the presentation dealt strictly with desalination, which many believe to be only one piece of a realistic solution for long-term water security. There was no mention of recovering and reusing the 600,000 gallons a day of treated wastewater now being discharged into the Santa Barbara Channel off Butterfly Beach. The consultant’s explanation was that use of recycled water was not within the scope of the study. This strategy lost the support of audience members from the environmental community and disappointed those who view the involvement of the Montecito Sanitary District as a critical piece in any comprehensive solution for water security. The consultants’ projected capital cost of up to $86 million also rang alarm bells because it did not provide for the inclusion of recycled water into the mix, nor did it include interest and amortization costs for the desal construction project, nor operating and maintenance costs, nor the multi-million-dollar property acquisition costs for any of a variety of possible intake and discharge sites near the beach. The consultants’ preferred choice for the site of the actual desal plant was far from the sea on property already owned by MWD, thus eliminating potential acquisition expenses on that particular parcel and potentially benefitting the time horizon for the permitting process because this land is outside the area of direct California Coastal Commission’s oversight.
Ginny Maloco We should not move forward with the proposed $86-million RBF Desalination wearing Plan as presented. We must resist the urge to spend additional ratepayer dollars at this time to adopt the RBF consultants’ recommendations to: 1) develop a “Joseph Ribkoff” detailed implementation plan; 2) initiate additional desalination technical studDevelop a Realistic Action Plan
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ies; 3) further study one or more combinations of sites for seawater intake, or 4) initiate and/or perform an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Instead, we should respond to expectations that we formulate a responsible, comprehensive plan for water security before moving ahead on one isolated part of the solution. A professionally balanced solution for Montecito should be designed. Plans need to be developed for a state-of-the-art, combination recycle and desalination plant, co-located on the current Montecito Sanitary District plant site. We must incorporate recycled wastewater into an acceptable long-term solution. Recycled water technology is enjoying a scientific renaissance. Wastewater in Orange County and San Jose is being treated by a combination of microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light to a new “gold standard” that makes recycled water suitable for drinking.
Kim D’Entremont wearing “Eva Varro” and “Bi jouterie” jewelry
The Wave of the Future
6 – 13 November 2014
WATER FRONT Page 244
Lana Marmé
photographer: Joseph Souza
Regulatory reform under State Senate Bill 322, signed by Governor Brown in 2013, requires the State Department of Public Health, in concert with the State Water Resources Control Board, to define the recycling criteria for direct potable reuse of treated wastewater – wastewater to drinking water – with a deadline of December 31, 2016. This eliminates the need for expensive purple pipes to carry recycled wastewater to agricultural users, golf courses, cemeteries, and landscapers. It opens new opportunities to inject properly treated wastewater into depleted aquifers for recharge, or to prevent seawater intrusion. Recycled water can be used for wetland restoration, or for mixing treated wastewater and desalinated seawater into the potable drinking water supply chain. Prior to our current mandatory rationing program, 70 percent of all drinking
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