Consumers' cuts drying up revenue for districts

This was a particularly frustrating article - it showed on one hand what Surfrider's been preaching for years: that if we just conserve water, we can make a big impact on our demand and supply, and potentially won't need to build desal plants up and down our coastline. But, on the other hand, it also pointed out how water agencies seem to be retailers willing to keep selling us as much as we want to consume, and in fact, depend on us to consume as much as possible so they can keep 'growing.'

Some of the comments below the article were particularly poignant, so please read on past the article, and let us know what you think.


California's Water: A Vanishing Resource
Consumers' cuts drying up revenue for districts
By Mike Lee
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

2:00 a.m. September 13, 2009


Be careful what you ask for.

Since California's drought began three years ago, water districts have increasingly urged residents and businesses to reduce consumption. In San Diego County, most of those agencies ramped up their pleas in April and then introduced mandatory restrictions in July, with the overall goal of cutting usage by 8 percent to 10 percent.

Now, they're facing too much of a good thing.

Countywide water use has plummeted more than expected, slashing water districts' sales revenue. Several agencies have seen their sales drop about 20 percent from April through July compared with the same time a year ago.

Water managers attribute the high savings rates to several factors, including the mandates, rapidly rising water bills and recession-weary households trying to lower their expenses.

The districts might have to keep boosting prices, tap reserves and shrink operating expenses while still carrying out projects required by state and federal laws.

Some have decided to ease their conservation outreach efforts and relax irrigation rules — an awkward position because climate experts don't expect the drought to end soon.

In the short run, the districts could encounter a more pressing challenge if the forecast atmospheric phenomenon called El Niño brings better-than-average rainfall this winter and enables residents to further curb their outdoor water use. That would cut deeper into sales.

“We don't need to keep telling (customers) to do a better job,” said Bill Rucker, general manager for the Vallecitos Water District in San Marcos.

His agency's sales fell 20 percent in the April-to-July period compared with the same period in 2008. To make up for the downturn, the district will leave some positions vacant and roll back conservation education.

During a meeting of the region's top water managers in late August, “everyone was concerned about the lost revenues,” said Dennis Lamb of the Vallecitos district.

He said the decision-makers expressed support for allowing residents to continue watering their lawns and other landscaping a maximum of three days a week during the winter and spring, even though current regulations call for irrigation only once a week from November through May.

Lamb, Rucker and other water officials said it's too early to panic about the financial bottom line. The figures for countywide water consumption in August haven't been finalized, and the heat wave at the end of that month may have boosted usage closer to normal levels.

Kristen Crane, who oversees Poway's water conservation team, wonders whether residents downsized their consumption so quickly that they'll soon burn out and return to old habits.

“If they just shut their sprinklers off altogether, that was not our goal,” she said. “We don't know if it's a knee-jerk reaction or if it's sustainable.”

Poway's water use during the April-to-July period dropped 22 percent compared with the same time last year. Crane said usage has decreased about 30 percent since 2007.

“If the conservation levels continue at 30 percent, we would have to evaluate the impacts of that on our rates,” Crane said.

Bill Lampshire, a 20-year resident of Scripps Ranch, said he believes the recent surge in conservation will be long-lasting.

He has curtailed his water use by irrigating his roses with dishwater, letting his lawn die and pushing his family members to shorten their showers. The result: a year-over-year reduction of more than 40 percent.

Lampshire also is looking at installing artificial turf instead of reviving his lawn.

His neighbors seem to be conserving, too. Virtually every yard in his neighborhood has a brown lawn or drought-tolerant landscaping, including rocks and cactuses.

Lampshire doesn't extend much sympathy to water districts squeezed by falling revenue.

“If they are not earning enough money, well, shame on them. They have earned enough in the past,” Lampshire said.

Uncertainties such as how intent people are on long-term conservation, how long California will remain parched and how certain wildlife preservation efforts will affect water supplies leave district managers nervously monitoring their sales figures.

“When we are mandated to cut back 8 to 10 percent, ideally we cut back 8 to 10 percent,” said Bob Cook, general manager for the Lakeside Water District.

But Lakeside is exceeding expectations and is among the county leaders in conservation. Its water use was down 20 percent during the April-to-July period compared with the same time a year earlier.

“Our (customers) are at the forefront of this economic downturn, and I am certain that has something do with it,” Cook said. “I bet their electricity bills are down. I bet their gasoline bills are down, too.”

Water agencies' expenses typically are tied to state and federal quality standards, so the districts can't make significant budget cuts without threatening public health and risking fines.

In addition, as inventories shrink amid drought, retail water agencies statewide are having to pay more because wholesalers are spreading their fixed costs over fewer gallons.

The Lakeside district's leaders are weighing their options.

“In the short term, we are going to rely on reserves,” Cook said. “In the long term, nobody has come to a decision on that.”

San Diego, by far the largest retail water agency in the county, isn't hurting as badly as some of its neighbors, said utilities director Jim Barrett.

He said the city budgeted for a 15 percent sales reduction during the fiscal year that started in July. San Diego's actual savings was about 18 percent for the April-to-July period compared with the same time last year.

The city's sales estimate was driven by initial projections that water supplies could be cut by 15 percent or more in Southern California. That conservation target was lowered in April, but San Diego stuck to the original forecast.

Still, Barrett said, the district could relax its outdoor-watering protocol for November through May. One irrigation day per week “is probably a little bit too severe” amid the current conservation trend, he said.

At the Olivenhain Municipal Water District in Encinitas, officials plan to leave their three-day-a-week system in place at least through December.

The amount of water saved by the district's customers in July and August equaled the agency's target for the entire fiscal year, General Manager Kimberly Thorner said.

“We don't want to be reactionary to just a couple of months of reduced demand . . . but essentially, since we are already getting 23 percent reduction with three watering days, let's just keep it up,” Thorner said.

San Diego Council Steps In on Water After Mayor's Plan Falls Flat

Interesting article from the Voice of San Diego...

Sunday, July 19, 2009 | When the first reduction in San Diego's water supplies in two decades loomed earlier this year, a long list of people weighed in on Mayor Jerry Sanders' proposal to reduce citywide use.

Lobbyists lobbied. Economists critiqued. Concerned residents questioned.

One group was notably silent: The City Council.

That changed in early April after voiceofsandiego.org revealed misrepresentations that Water Department staff had made about the benefits of Sanders' proposal, which had based proposed cuts on residents' historic use. Very quickly, the council got a lot more interested in shaping a policy that had previously been entrusted to the Mayor's Office and Water Department staff to develop and market.

Then San Diego got a reprieve. The 20 percent supply cut the city had prepared for didn't manifest. Instead, the region is coping with an 8 percent reduction. But as the potential for cuts looms again next year, City Council President Ben Hueso is now prodding his colleagues to develop their own water-reduction strategy -- not rely on the mayor.

In a recent memo, he asked them to submit ideas for promoting water conservation and new supplies and has proposed a series of public meetings about water.

Click Here for the full VoiceofSanDiego.org article.

Microbiologist's view on water reclamation in SD

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 | As a professor of Microbiology and a concerned citizen of San Diego, I am extremely concerned about the reports Councilor Lightner has had a change of mind concerning the City's water reclamation plan. We have a serious and growing water crisis in the San Diego region and this plan is incredibly important to our region's water security. I have looked at the plans in detail and I know that the water we will be getting from this proposal will be significantly cleaner than our current water sources.

Remember, our current water source is already sewage contaminated from the run-off of upstream cities and is not nearly as heavily treated and filtered as the reclaimed water will be. People may think that desalination is safer option, but the ocean is loaded with bacteria that needs to be removed. With desalination, you not only have to get rid of the bacteria and virus, as with reclamation, but you also have to deal with all the salt making the process much more expensive and energy intensive. And if energy prices take off again, desalination becomes even more expensive.

I am not arguing against desalination; we will probably need that too along with much tighter water restrictions and loads of xeriscaping. However, we cannot afford to miss out on any source of water, especially from the relatively cheap and clean source provided by reclamation. San Diego will need every possible source of water in the future given our continuing drought, population growth and climate change.

People are afraid of this plan because of the psychological "yuck" factor: there is no scientific reasoning behind this fear. I hope the City Council members and the mayor are able to see past the temporary political ramifications and see the larger picture for the citizens of San Diego. We have a crisis here and we need intelligent and brave leadership to secure this most precious resource for future San Diegans.

Dr. Scott T. Kelley is the Associate Professor of Microbiology at San Diego State University

www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/07/09/letters/128lightner070709.txt

Re-Recycled Sewage Vote Fails

and it's a good thing! The IPR pilot project is still on track, although a little late. Thumbs up to Councilmember Kevin Faulconer for voting to honor the already issued contract.

From the Voice of San Diego...

The City Council voted 5-3 (on July 7th) to reject Councilwoman Sherri Lightner's request to revoke a $438,000 contract that's a key part of the city's examination of recycled sewage as a drinking-water source.

Lightner, Carl DeMaio and Tony Young voted in favor of revoking the contract; Donna Frye, Todd Gloria, Marti Emerald, Ben Hueso and Kevin Faulconer supported maintaining it.

Faulconer, who has opposed sewage recycling in previous votes, served as the swing vote. His spokesman said yesterday that Faulconer didn't support reneging on an already issued contract.

While some sewage recycling proponents worry that Lightner's request signals an end to their once solid majority on the council, Lightner said she does support the concept so long as it comes with "fiscal responsibility and public health protections."

Click Here for the Voice of SD article.

CLICK HERE for a more in-depth story about the vote and water resue that I just came across from the SD Union-Tribune. Here's part of it...

"More than a decade after San Diego started looking at how to turn wastewater back into tap water, the proposal remains in a political quagmire and city officials have lost a major chance to win federal stimulus money for it.

The City Council took a small step yesterday to preserve the latest water-reuse effort, which supporters call reservoir augmentation and critics dub “toilet to tap.” The council kept a $420,000 contract to study one part of the plan.

But the overall project's future is increasingly tenuous. Before the City Council's makeup changed in December, the concept was backed by five of the eight council members. Now three are opposed, four are in favor and Sherri Lightner says she is unsure."

Oh La La! Sexy Water Recycling Embraced in San Diego!

According to a San Diego County Water Authority Study, Attitudes and Perceptions are Changing Concerning Water Recycling

• Respondents (85 percent) are largely aware that recycled water is already in use in San Diego County for irrigation and other non-drinking water purposes. Residents (89 percent either strongly favor or somewhat favor) support the use of recycled water for non-drinking purposes, and this finding is consistent with previous surveys.

• Over one-half (53 percent) of respondents believe that it is possible to treat recycled water to make it is pure and safe for drinking, and over one third (35 percent) think that drinking water already contains recycled water. Among those who hold this belief, 22 percent feel this way because the water tastes or smells bad, and 18 percent learned about the use of recycled water through the media.

• Over three-fifths (63 percent) of the respondents either strongly favor or somewhat favor advanced treated recycled water as an addition to the supply of drinking water. Support for recycled water in all of its proposed or current uses is significantly stronger among those who know that it is presently being used in the County than it is among those without such knowledge. The interest in using recycled water for drinking purposes has increased substantially since 2005 when 28 percent either strongly favored or somewhat favored such use of recycled water.

• It is noteworthy that approximately 40 percent of those who were originally not strongly in favor of using recycled water for drinking purposes would find it acceptable if it received advanced treatment and upon learning about certain other safety provisions to be undertaken.

• More specifically, it is most interesting of all is that 30%-47% of those who are initially not
sure or somewhat opposed to the use of recycled water for drinking can be positively influenced.

2009 Public Opinion Poll Report Rea & Parker Research San Diego County Water Authority April, 2009

Backing water-reuse preferred over desal in Singapore

"SMART money prefers backing water-reuse projects over desalination ones, says a study done jointly by Singapore and foreign consultants.

This is because it is cheaper to purify the outfall from water reclamation plants than to turn sea water into drinking water."

Makes sense to me and something that transfers well to California. Think about the massive amounts of energy that we use to move water around the state coupled with the amount of energy that wastewater treatment plants use to cleanse it to secondary or tertiary standards. Why throw all of the energy down the drain or ocean outfall? Take a few more steps and add it back to our water supply. After conservation (think irrigation) I believe IPR is most vital for the future water supply.

Click Here for the full story from te Straits Times in Singapore.

H2NO: San Diego Going Dry

Catchy name for this in depth series from kpbs.org in San Diego about the current water 'situation'.

"California is teetering on the edge of the worst drought in the state’s history. The lack of rainfall and melting snowpack is causing reservoirs to shrink and rivers to run dry, and the water supply for millions of residents is being threatened. KPBS looks at the impacts of going dry."

CLICK HERE for the full story.

Smarter Showering

It’s hot, it’s steamy, and you do it every day — shower, that is. But do you get wet in the most eco-friendly way? Umbra Fisk drops some nozzle knowledge that’ll make your shower greener, and keep your hard-earned money from going down the drain.

Grist.org is a great website from the Pacific Northwest that has a cult-like following. Umbra is their question answerer. Toss her any sort of environmental question and she will logical solutions. Her latest installment covers showering...

Top 10 San Diego Water Users

San Diego News Network created a list of the top 10 water users in San Diego. The list includes Caltrans, UCSD, SDSU and SeaWorld. The City of San Diego is the largest single wholesale agency the Water Authority works with. The top 10 is beginning to change it's water usage and have come up with ways to conserve water. Click here for the rest of the list.

Desalination in Pendleton?

The San Diego County Water Authority, perhaps emboldened by the imprudence demonstrated the Regional Water Quality Control Board in permitting an atavistic approach to desalination, is exploring a desalination plant in Camp Pendleton. This would be the largest by volume of water produced and most expensive plants in the US by 3x.

This is a great time to start working with the County Water Authority to be sure that this massive project is progressive in approach. Come out to the June Know Your H20 meeting to speak with Toby Roy of the San Diego County Water Authority to be sure this is done right.

Check our Rob Davis of the Voice of San Diego's interview on the topic.

New San Diego Water Conservation Ordinance

As of June 1st the City of San Diego has enacted new rules and restrictions for water usage. There are new limitations on the amount of time and the days that San Diegans can water their lawns and plants. The City Council is asking that San Diegans only turn on outdoor water systems 3 times a week before 10am and after 6pm.

Homes with odd-numbered addresses will be permitted to water on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Homes with even-numbered addresses can water on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. Apartments, condos and businesses can water only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

They are also asking that when washing cars that you use a bucket, a hose with a nozzel that shuts of automatically, or that you go to a local car wash service. San Diegans are also being told not to water down their driveways, garages, or sidewalks. There will be penalties for not following the new measures.

These are all new steps that the city hopes to instill in everyone so that they become conscious and aware of their water usage.

Heroes in a time of drought

Brook Sarson: 

Brook Sarson, a San Diego resident, is doing her part to decrease human impact on Earth's ever-decreasing water supply. Sarson has a 1,300 gallon rainwater tank in her backyard for her family's water needs and uses greywater from her laundry machine and shower to hydrate her enviable backyard garden. Sarson reports that she uses about twenty gallons a day per family member from her rainwater tank and since using the tank her water bills have been cut in half. In addition to cutting down on water usage and saving money, Sarson's garden has produced ten times more food since beginning her water-harvesting endeavors. She claims that not only is her backyard for her and her children, it is also a symbol of how things should be. For information on Brooke Sarson's water harvesting company, H2OME, email brook@h20-me.com or call 619.964.4838

Tom Warner:

Tom Warner, a Talmadge resident, let his green lawn die when the unending drought and ever-increasing water bills forced him to stop watering grass. He states that, "unless you have a dog or children, you don't necessarily need a lawn". That is why Warner turned to rockscapes. He purchased Mediterranean and tropical drought-tolerant plants for $300 and collected rocks from his friend's yard for free and, voila, a low-hassle, low-cost, guilt-free front yard. Warner will turn off his irrigation from winter to spring. Then, Dockery suggests watering deep and allowing soil to dry up before the next sprinkling. Roots learn to search out water below the surface, he explains.

“Our kind of feeling about plants is push them a little bit,” agreed Marty Eberhardt, executive director of the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College. “Try the low end and then give it a little bit more water instead of giving it so much everyday.” Eberhardt says low-flow toilet rebates have been around for years, but there’s been little emphasis on outdoor landscape - which consumes 50 to 70 percent of San Diego’s dwindling and largely imported water supply.

Warner leaves us with a personal mantra, "Where there is a rock, you don't have to water". 

Joe Randazzo

"It's the best move I've ever made," says Joe Randazzo of investing in AstroTurf to replace his natural-grass front lawn. Tired of the maintenance of a grass lawn and plagued by increasing water bills from watering, Randazzo decided to switch to the polyethelene synthetic grass. According to him, people don't even know the grass is synthetic! By installing the AstroTurf and landscaping simply with water-wise planters, Randazzo has cut costs by saying goodbye to gas for the lawnmower, the entire sprinkler system, fertilizer, and half of the water bill. Now, instead of caring for the lawn, his formerly least favorite chore, he now only waters the planters by hand every couple of weeks. 

There are certain drawbacks to having a synthetic front lawn, though. First of all, the artificial grass is made using petroleum, which is a finite resource like water.  Also, the instillation of a artificial lawn can be quite pricey, costing a homeowner up to $6,000 for a 20x30 yard. Furthermore, barbecues and other gas-operated machinery should be steered clear of. Lastly, the grass can get very hot so you must keep that in mind if you picture children playing on the lawn.

Randazzo doesn't play on his front lawn, though, and claims that the high cost of the lawn will pay for itself in the way of no water bills or maintenance fees. Randazzo points out that he certainly doesn't want to run out of water because, "without water, we run out of everything". This mentality should be shared by all of us on Earth because of the effects of wasteful water practices. 

Ken Muehleman

Like an child ready to play, Ken Muehleman is eager to share the area nearest to his heart: a 400-square-foot organic vegetable garden, smack alongside busy Catalina Boulevard. The electrical engineer harvests a bounty of greens from oregano to arugala, snow peas to swiss chard. “Gardening is the prime motivator,” said Ken gesturing to the crop of spring vegetables. “But the challenge is to do it in the most efficient way, to get the most while not wasting water.”

Here’s how he does it: soaker hoses and drip irrigation concentrate moisture where it’s needed most, laying newspaper and wood chips over the dirt reduces evaporation, and vetch groundcover enriches soil and saves water. Conserving, composting, even his worm bed are all part of being a global citizen, Ken figures, especially in a place that is warming and drying.

“They talk about people watering only two or three times a week. I find that very hard to take,” Ken gestures to his heart as he talks of the county mandates. “We like to see if we can water once a week and grow decent vegetables.”

Not a New Problem

Southern California has always had a problem with water- a problem getting the water from where it was to where the people that needed it lived. In San Diego, they solved the problem by building a dam, and building six miles of aqueduct to get it to the Mission Valley area. This happened in 1769. The problem is exactly the same today as it was then — getting the water to the people who need it.

Of course, the problem is compounded by the fact there are several million people who need the water, and that the water is now in very short supply. The bigger problem, though, is the fact that fully 90 percent of the water people need is not six miles away, but hundreds of miles away — in Northern California and in the Colorado River.

How did San Diego get into this fix? Click on the link below to read about the history of water supply issues in San Diego...

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-05-27/special-sections/water/san-diegos-water-problem-not-new

One Small Sip for Man and a Giant Gulp of Recycled Urine For Mankind

Wednesday, May 20th made history as the day that NASA astronauts took their first drink of water recycled from their urine, sweat, and water that is condensed when air is exhaled. Astronaut Michael Barratt claims that, "the taste is great". While the American side of the space station is drinking water made from urine, sweat, and exhaled air, the Russian side of the station is only producing water from the last of the three. 

The urine recycling system is used at outposts on the moon and on Mars. This innovative system will save NASA money on water transportation to space and will allow crews on the space station to consist of six people instead of three. How, you may ask, is drinkable water created from urine? Well, it's quite simple, actually. The new system takes the combined urine of the crew from the toilet, moves it to a big tank, where the water is boiled off, and the vapor collected. The rest of contaminants — the yucky brine in the urine — is thrown away, said Marybeth Edeen, the space station's national lab manager who was in charge of the system. The water vapor is mixed with water from air condensation, then it goes through filters, much like those put on home taps, Edeen said. When six crew members are at the space station, they can make about six gallons of urine in about six hours.

Edeen also points out that the drinking of recycled urine also occurs on Earth, although with more time between urine and the tap. In space the process only takes about one week. This system has already been used for quick water purification after the 2004 Asian tsunami. While this technology has only been embraced by those floating in space thus far, it is still a glimmer of hope for us Earthlings. With this kind of technology, waste water can be reused, reducing our impact on the world's natural water supply. 

Irresponsible Fear-Mongering Advertisement from Rescue Rooter

I received this irresponsible fear-mongering from "Rescue Rooter" just the other day. I'm angered to see such an irresponsible advertising campaign. Tertiary reclaimed water is safe to drink and a great option. Please let "Rescue Rooter" know that you disapprove of this marketing strategy by boycotting their services.

A Shout-Out On The Drought by Larry Himmel

a clever take on our water situation from CBS reporter Larry Himmel...

Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.
Squandered when we wash the car, wasted in the kitchen sink.
Too much agua on the lawn and in the garden too
We need to make some changes, and it's up to me and you.

You know it wasn't that long ago when folks used to say
To be healthy we had to drink at least eight glasses a day.
And we all carried gallon jugs, it became of trendy fashion.
It now appears that eight glasses will become our monthly ration.

There will be mandatory rationing until we change our ways.
Unless you're rich enough to water your grass with Perriers.
And the city will hand out fines, if our water use does increase.
You could be handcuffed and rubber hose-whipped by the water police.

Now I'm not being flippant, this comes from the heart.
We're all in this together, so let's just play it smart.
Water at a later hour for a shorter amount of time.
Sprinkle just three days a week and soon will all be fine.

Now I'm not suggesting that we take a backwards path.
And return to the days when folks only took a Saturday night bath.
Or limit your total hygiene to a toothbrush and a sponge
And turn America's Finest City into the city of the grunge.

Soon it will be mandatory to save every precious drop.
And change the way we live after the rationing will stop.
But I'll ask the city and county with all of my silly poems
If we live in the parched desert, why do we keeping building homes?

But let's all roll up our hoses and plant for xeroscape.
Wash the car after 6, until were out of our current scrape.
If we don't change our ways, soon we'll be a fruitless plain.
Heed the warning, turn off the tap and then let's pray for rain.

Click Here for the video.

Does Rehoboth Beach DE Know It's H2O?

The City of Rehoboth Beach has to decide what to do with it's wastewater now that it has to stop dumping into the canal by 2011 and Surfrider enthusiastically supports LBA. LBA or spray irrigation is a universally accepted method for treating and reclaiming waste water into irrigation water for farmers, whereas an ocean outfall is a pipe leading out into the ocean which discharges treated effluent from a sewage treatment plant. Each year billions of gallons of fresh water are lost from effluent discharge into water bodies.

Please click the link below, sign the petition and send it to your friends and family.

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/rehobothbeach_outfall

From the action alert: "Spray irrigation will help Delaware agriculture, recharge groundwater aquifers, keep water in the watershed, not the ocean; create sustainable farming, maintain open space for farming & recreation, and is an economically proven and permissible technology. Spray irrigation helps replenish our diminishing ground water aquifers while an ocean outfall puts all waste water in the ocean and none goes to Delaware agriculture. An ocean outfall empties billions of gallons of freshwater into the ocean each year, which cannot be reclaimed or recycled into the ground water. With the population growth causing an increasing demand on Delaware's water supply and waste water capacity, we need a system which will be able to process more waste water while preserving precious fresh water for the future."

Mandatory water conservation, coming to San Diego June 1, 2009

It's coming! Mayor Sanders unveiled his plan for how it could work, so let's hope the city council votes for it!

Orange County’s Groundwater Replenishment System Wins National Civil Engineering Award

From the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE):

April 23, 2009: Turning Wastewater Into Drinking Water
Orange County’s Groundwater Replenishment System Wins National Civil Engineering Award

Reston, Va. – Orange County faced a serious challenge: how to continue providing water for its growing population and economy. In the past, water purchased from outside Southern California had been the answer. Realizing that the old solution wasn’t a sustainable answer, the Orange County Water and Sanitation District’s new Groundwater Replenishment System (GWR) provides a high quality, reliable water supply. In recognition of its success, the Groundwater Replenishment System has been honored with the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2009 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) Award. Presented this evening at the 10th annual Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Awards Gala at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Va., the OCEA award recognizes the project’s significant contributions to both the civil engineering profession and the local community.

“Sufficient water sources are not guaranteed,” said ASCE President D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE, “especially not in Southern California. The Groundwater Replenishment System is a safe, reliable option for meeting the increasing water demands of north and central Orange County, and it is an excellent example of how civil engineering can contribute to a community’s economic success, improve residents’ quality of life and protect public safety.”

The projected water demand in central and north Orange County for the year 2020 is 600,000 acre-feet (which is enough water for 1.3 million families annually) compared to current consumption of about 500,000 acre-feet per year (which is enough water for one million families annually). These projections indicate that demand will far outweigh supply. This imbalance will become even more pronounced in a drought. Included as a case study for raising the Drinking Water grade in the ASCE 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the GWR system to meets growing demands and reduces reliance on water imported from other sources.

The GWR system takes water through an advanced purification process. This purified water is of a higher quality than required by all state and federal drinking water standards and is similar to distilled water. The system uses the latest water treatment technologies, and its structures have been designed to accommodate solar power, providing a reliable, drought-proof source of pure water for the county, reducing saltwater intrusion into the groundwater basin and lowering the amount of wastewater discharged to the ocean. Water from the system will be between 35 and 75 percent cheaper than water produced by seawater desalination, and the purification process will consume about half the energy.

The GWR System provides a new drought-proof water source for northern and central Orange County, will reduce reliance on imported water, and will save additional funds in the future by improving the quality of the water in the Orange County groundwater basin. This water quality improvement takes place when the new purified water, low in minerals, mixes with existing groundwater, lowering the average mineral content. Lowering the amount of minerals in the water, or reducing water hardness will decrease maintenance costs for residents and businesses by extending the life of water heaters, boilers, cooling towers and plumbing fixtures.

The contenders for the 2009 OCEA Award included the I-35W St. Anthony’s Falls Bridge Project in Minneapolis; the H. Clay Whaley, Sr. Memorial Water Plant in St. Cloud, Fla.; the Lake Brazos Labyrinth Weir in Waco, Texas; the Montagua Bridge in LaGarrucha, Guatemala; and the Elk Creek Tunnel Bridge located between Elkton and Drain, Ore.

Established in 1960, the OCEA program recognizes projects on the basis of their contribution to the well-being of people and communities, resourcefulness in planning and design challenges, and innovation in materials and techniques. Previous winners have included the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project on the Washington, D.C. beltway, the Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit in San Francisco, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse relocation in North Carolina and the Saluda Dam Remediation project in Columbia, S.C.

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 146,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. For more information, visit www.asce.org. For more information on the awards program, please contact Anthony Reed at areed@asce.org or (703) 295-6413. ###

Poseidon as puppet master?

"Ben Hueso—City Council president, California Coastal Commission member and state Assembly candidate—really, really wants there to be a desalination plant in Carlsbad. Whenever he’s been asked about the prospect of Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources constructing a plant to turn seawater into potable water, he’s expressed his strong support for the project. He supports it so much that he’s even willing to let the company write salutary letters that he then sends under his own name.

Poseidon’s proposed plant would take in 304 million gallons a day of seawater and provide 50 million gallons a day of drinking water to the San Diego region. As threats of water rationing hang over the region like the storm clouds we wish would come, the company has received renewed support from elected officials—from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Chris Kehoe to the Carlsbad City Council. And Hueso.

The documents, obtained by CityBeat under California’s public-records law, show that on at least two occasions, Poseidon vice president Scott Maloni sent e-mail to Hueso’s chief of staff, Alonso Gonzalez—himself a candidate for City Council—drafts of letters Maloni wanted Hueso to send to the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Both letters emphasized Hueso’s position as a Coastal Commissioner, and both asked the water board to vote to approve the desal plant. In both cases, Hueso sent the letters unedited."

That's an excerpt from a recent San Diego City Beat article. Click Here for the full story.

Climate Change Means Shortfalls in Colorado River Water Deliveries

Hot off the wire from UCSD/Scripps! April 20, 2009

Climate Change Means Shortfalls in Colorado River Water Deliveries

Scripps researchers find that currently scheduled water deliveries from the Colorado River are unlikely to be met if human-caused climate change reduces runoff in the region.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography/ University of California, San Diego

The Colorado River system supplies water to tens of millions of people and millions of acres of farmland, and has never experienced a delivery shortage. But if human-caused climate change continues to make the region drier, scheduled deliveries will be missed 60-90 percent of the time by the middle of this century, according to a pair of climate researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

"All water-use planning is based on the idea that the next 100 years will be like the last 100," said Scripps research marine physicist Tim Barnett, a co-author of the report. "We considered the question: Can the river deliver water at the levels currently scheduled if the climate changes as we expect it to. The answer is no."

Even under conservative climate change scenarios, Barnett and Scripps climate researcher David Pierce found that reductions in the runoff that feeds the Colorado River mean that it could short the Southwest of a half-billion cubic meters (400,000 acre feet) of water per year 40 percent of the time by 2025. (An acre foot of water is typically considered adequate to meet the annual water needs of two households.) By the later part of this century, those numbers double.

The paper, "Sustainable water deliveries from the Colorado River in a changing climate," appears in the April 20 edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The analysis follows a 2008 study in which Barnett and Pierce found that Lake Mead, the reservoir on the Colorado River created by Hoover Dam, stood a 50-percent chance of going dry in the next 20 years if the climate changed and no effort was made to preserve a minimum amount of water in the reservoir. The new study assumes instead that enough water would be retained in the reservoir to supply the city of Las Vegas, and examines what delivery cuts would be required to maintain that level.

"People have talked for at least 30 years about the Colorado being oversubscribed but no one ever put a date on it or an amount. That's what we've done," said Barnett. "Without numbers like this, it's pretty hard for resource managers to know what to do."

Barnett and Pierce also point out that lakes Mead and Powell were built during and calibrated to the 20th century, which was one of the wettest in the last 1,200 years. Tree ring records show that typical Colorado River flows are substantially lower, yet 20th Century values are used in most long-term planning of the River. If the Colorado River flow reverts to its long-term average indicated by the tree rings, then currently scheduled water deliveries are even less sustainable.

Barnett and Pierce show that the biggest effects of human-induced climate change will probably be seen during dry, low-delivery years. In most years, delivery shortfalls will be small enough to be manageable through conservation and water transfers, they estimate. But during dry years there is an increasing chance of substantial shortages.

"Fortunately, we can avoid such big shortfalls if the river's users agree on a way to reduce their average water use," said Pierce. "If we could do that, the system could stay sustainable further into the future than we estimate currently, even if the climate changes."
# # #

Scripps Institution of Oceanography: scripps.ucsd.edu

Scripps News: scrippsnews.ucsd.edu


Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at UC San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. The National Research Council has ranked Scripps first in faculty quality among oceanography programs nationwide. Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,300, and annual expenditures of approximately $155 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration.

UCSD News on the Web: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu
Scripps Contacts: Robert Monroe or Mario Aguilera 858-534-3624; scrippsnews@ucsd.edu

The San Vicente Dam Raise project starts soon along with new wetlands in the TJ River Valley approved

Info from the latest SDCWA Emergency Storage Project email...

Getting Ready for Construction on San Vicente Dam Raise

Good news for San Diego County: construction starts soon on the San Vicente Dam Raise, the last major component of the Emergency Storage Project.

The San Vicente Dam Raise project will increase the height of the existing dam by 117 feet. This will more than double the reservoir's water storage capacity. Construction is expected to begin before summer.

Lake Hodges Cofferdam Gets the Job Done How do you build an inlet-outlet structure and its connecting tunnel on the bottom of a reservoir? You use a cofferdam! The Lake Hodges Projects contractor installed a temporary cofferdam to keep the reservoir water out of the construction area. This spring, the cofferdam will be dismantled and removed - it accomplished its job.

A Closer Look at Pipe Installation Pipe installation for the San Vicente Pipeline is well under way in the western portion of the tunnel. To date, crews have placed about 180 pipe segments in the tunnel, almost two miles long. The contractor anticipates completing pipe installation for the five miles between the West and Central shafts this spring.

Testing Equipment in the New San Vicente Pumping Facilities With construction largely complete, over the next several months each piece of equipment in the pump station and surge control tank will undergo extensive testing to help ensure it works properly when needed. The pumping facilities will deliver water from San Vicente Reservoir to the San Vicente Pipeline and ultimately to San Diego County residents during an emergency.

Wetlands Creation in Tijuana River Valley Approved
As part of the Water Authority's commitment to protecting the environment while providing a safe, reliable water supply to the San Diego region, the board of directors certified and approved the final environmental document for the Tijuana River Valley Wetlands Mitigation Project in December 2008.

Sales of Bottled New York Tap Water Embarrass Non-Mad Citizens

The Los Angeles Times points out that a lot of idiots in New York are paying $1.50 a bottle for city tap water. To our surprise, there is no law against Craig Zucker -- who started his flim-flam career selling $1 golf shots with a million-dollar prize for a hole in one -- bottling local water as "Tap'd NY" and re-selling it.
Zucker claims that he filters the water before bottling, so it will be less poisonous than the free water with which generations of citizens were hydrated before the world went mad, but other than that there's no advantage to his product except convenience. The company does encourage buyers to refill their Tap'd bottles from public sources, which is like liquor companies telling us to drink responsibly. People like author Elizabeth Royte have been trying to get New York to reduce bottled water use by installing more public drinking fountains, but the whole air-and-water-should-be-free thing is kind of out of date, and we doubt the cash-strapped city will spend money to discourage consumerism.
There are only two things that can arrest this mortifying fad: common sense -- which left us some time ago -- and the New Depression, which will probably revive the use of public fountains, and re-accustom citizens to tap water when it is served at soup kitchens.

Article from The Village Voice in NYC, check them out.

Reducing Polluted Runoff Is a Much Better Strategy Than Accepting and Trying to Treat Ever Increasing Amounts of Runoff

"Instead of engineering the stormwater system to deal with increasingly large amounts of stormwater, these low impact development approaches utilize technologies that aim to reduce the amount of stormwater that even enters the system. This is achieved through processes that encourage enhanced infiltration and evaporation processes. Simple approaches such as green roofs, increased tree cover, disconnecting downspouts, and adding more green space can go a long way to reducing the amount of stormwater that enters sewers. [don't forget storm drain systems] And in some circumstances, these technologies can realize significant cost savings for municipalities and building owners." - quote by Subcommittee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas.

Click Here for the full story from www.ens-newswire.com

Breaking News - Obama Backhands Toilet to Tap Delegates

15 March 2009, Washington DC.

In February, President Obama issued an official backhander to Toilet to Tap Agitators. This slap came in the form of Title IV of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act via a $1 billion allocation to Water Resources, with at least $126 million going to reclamation and reuse projects.



See below for the page of the bill that describes the allocation, and CLICK HERE if you 1) Like to Read Bills, 2) Suffer from Insomnia.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
WATER AND RELATED RESOURCES
For an additional amount for ‘‘Water and Related Resources’’, $1,000,000,000: Provided, That of the amount appropriated under this heading, not less than $126,000,000 shall be used for water reclamation and reuse projects authorized under title XVI of Public Law 102–575: Provided further, That funds provided in this Act shall be used for elements of projects, programs or activities that can be completed within these funding amounts and not create budgetary obligations in future fiscal years: Provided further, That $50,000,000 of the funds provided under this heading may be transferred to the Department of the Interior for programs, projects and activities authorized by the Central Utah Project Completion Act (titles II–V of Public Law 102–575): Provided further, That $50,000,000 of the funds provided under this heading may be used for programs, projects, and activities authorized by the California Bay-Delta Restoration Act (Public Law 108–361): Provided further, That not less than $60,000,000 of the funds provided under this heading shall be used for rural water projects and shall be expended primarily on water intake and treatment facilities of such projects: Provided further, That not less than $10,000,000 of the funds provided under this heading shall be used for a bureau-wide inspection of canals program in urbanized areas: Provided further, That the costs of extraordinary maintenance and replacement activities carried out with funds provided in this Act shall be repaid pursuant to existing authority, except the length of repayment period shall be as determined by the Commissioner, but in no case shall the repayment period exceed 50 years and the repayment shall include interest, at a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury as of the beginning of the fiscal year in which the work is commenced, on the basis of average market yields on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States with the remaining periods of maturity comparable to the applicable reimbursement period of the project adjusted to the nearest one-eighth of 1 percent on the unamortized balance of any portion of the loan: Provided further, That for projects that are being completed with funds appropriated in this Act that would otherwise be expired for obligation, expired funds appropriated in this Act may be used to pay the cost of associated supervision, inspection, overhead, engineering and design on those projects and on subsequent claims, if any: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior shall submit a quarterly report to the Committees on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the Senate detailing the allocation, obligation and expenditures of these funds, beginning not later than 45 days after enactment of this Act: Provided further, That the Secretary shall have unlimited reprogramming authority for these funds provided under this heading.

Extra! Extra! Read all About it! Parched Disney Visitors Slurp Sewer Water!

Visitors to Disneyland likely don't know that when they sip from Disney water fountains that the great tasting aqua treat was once streaming through a public sewer. Not to worry though. That sewer water is actually substantially cleaner and more carefully filtered than the water consumed in the average American household. Moreover, the new system providing Disney's water could be the most viable means of drought proofing a state that faces some potentially serious water issues in the coming years.

Read the Article!

Energy and Water Connection? VERY NICE!!

Our leaders are making the connection in legislation - it takes energy to move water, and it might be a good idea to consider that in how our federal policy directs water conveyance. See press release below and links.



Energy-water use connection sought

Friday, March 13, 2009

WASHINGTON — The US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on March 10 held a hearing on a recently introduced bill that aims to integrate the relationship between energy and water use into national policy decisions.

The bill, known as the Energy and Water Integration Act of 2009, or S 531, was introduced March 5 by Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, and Lisa Murkowski, R-AK. S 531 would direct the US Department of Energy to develop a framework for the energy-water use study. The Energy Department would be required to consult with the US Department of the Interior and the US Environmental Protection Agency, and then to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences under which the Academy analyzes the impact of energy development and production on US water resources.

Dr. Peter Gleick, president of the Oakland, CA-based think tank Pacific Institute, on March 10 testified before the committee in support of the bill. According to a March 10 Pacific Institute press release, Gleick explained how water and energy are linked, how limits to the availability of both resources are beginning to affect one another, and how recognizing this link when developing national energy and water policies can lead to many substantial economic and environmental benefits.

To access the Pacific Institute press release, click here.

To access information about the bill, click here or here.

For related information, click here.

Student Perspective

I am a junior in high school who cares about my future. I try to do my part when it comes to conserving resources and protecting our environment. I do this because I feel that as human beings we are responsible for keeping the planet clean and healthy. We don’t have another planet to live on after we trash this one, so we all collectively need to help keep our planet clean.

Water is a resource that is taken advantage of by students my age every day. I see kids throwing bottles of water on each other for their birthdays and kids who drink half a bottle of water and then throw it away. I am always aware and conscious of how much water I use and I try to conserve as much as possible everyday. I drink filtered tap water from my reusable water bottle and I never buy single use plastic bottles. My showers are usually five minutes or less, and while I lather, I turn off the water. I never keep the water on while I brush my teeth or while I wash the dishes.

Although I do these small things, I can’t say that I see my fellow classmates and friends do the same. An example is my best friend who takes twenty minute showers and keeps the water running while he brushes his teeth. I try to help give him tips on how to work on conserving water, but he finds it to difficult or pointless. That is the kind of attitude most kids at my age have. Unfortunately they feel that recycling and picking up trash isn’t a true solution to anything.

If every kid at my age grew up with the ideas of conservation and ways to help the planet then we would have a much cleaner and different world. Educating kids about where their water comes from and why it is so important to conserve water would benefit them so much. The key is for kids to understand why they are doing something, because if an authority figure wants them to change then odds are they won’t. The reason why water is such a valuable resource in San Diego in particular is because of our climate and location. We only get 10-20 % of our water from rainfall and we rely on the Colorado River and Northern California for the rest. Our weather in San Diego is sunny and dry about 264 days a year. Our climate and location makes us as residents very reliant on the 480 million gallons of water we import each day.

The simplest things a high school student can do are taking short showers, turning off the faucet when they don’t need it on, and to never waste water. I cringe when I see people over watering their lawns or washing down their driveways. It is the equivalent to pouring money down the drain in my eyes. My neighbor is a person who totally overuses water every single day. She washes down her driveway three to four times a week and fills her trash can to the brim and then flushes it into the storm drain every week. I have never understood why she does this but I have asked her before why she does and she responded with, “Because this is a free country!” I couldn’t believe it! I am very wary about my future and my children’s future because our valuable resources are being washed down people’s driveways like my neighbor everyday. So make sure to get the word out to your friends and family about little things they can do to help conserve and reuse water in their everyday lives.

Written by Evan S., a student at High Tech High in San Diego

Know Your H2O in the Driveway

Guess what the yellow is....

So, it's not exactly dinner table conversation, but having a conversation about it is important because it's affecting the health of our oceans. What are we talking about? We're talking about keeping sewage, even treated sewage, out of our oceans.

The NY Times has a great op-ed piece by Rose George, entitled "Yellow Is The New Green" and you can guess what the yellow is.... It's a great article because it brings up so many things about what to do with sewage, including re-thinking the way we think about. It turns out, it's not so disgusting after all - in fact, it has a lot of great uses!

If San Diego wants to be a leader amongst California cities, we need go down a greener (or yellower) path, and keep our oceans clean so that the tourist dollars we depend on, keep flowing in.

Free Car Wash!

I got a free car wash last week. No, not with a coupon from the local wash-n-dry but, a gift from mother nature in the form of rain. I used to avoid washing my truck because I was lazy. Now I can mask that laziness and say that I am being a good environmentalist by conserving water.

Right now Southern California is facing a critical point in dealing with our freshwater supply as drought conditions continue in spite of the recent rains. Where does our water come from, how will we use it and what will we do with it after? These issues have direct impacts on the ocean as the ill-planned desalination plant in Carlsbad moves forward and municipalities continue to dump treated wastewater in the ocean. According to the City of San Diego:

“During a normal year about 10-20 percent of the City's water supply is made up of local rainfall and is captured in one of our reservoirs. The remaining 80-90 percent is imported … from two separate sources. A 242 mile-long aqueduct brings Colorado River water from Lake Havasu to the southland. This water may have originated as snow melt on the mountain slopes of Utah, Wyoming, or Colorado and traveled more than 1,000 miles before being diverted to Southern California.

San Diego also receives water which originates in Northern California from the State Water Project. This water is captured in reservoirs north of Sacramento and released through natural rivers and streams into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The 444 mile-long California Aqueduct then carries the water from south of the Delta to (Southern California).”

Wrap your head around that for a moment. Most of the water in San Diego comes from hundreds of miles away and some of it can travel over 1000 miles from the source before it reaches our taps. That alone should speak volumes on how precious our freshwater really is. Unfortunately, developers and planners have not historically treated water as a limited renewable resource in our semi-arid climate. Excessive sprawl and water intensive non-native landscaping have over-burdened the water supply.

The Surfrider Foundation has worked with policy makers to mandate low-impact development and strengthen over-watering ordinances but the solution goes much further than that. The Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter has launched a campaign titled Know Your H2O to educate the public about the three most common options proposed to increase our water supply: conservation, Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR), and ocean desalination.

Water conservation takes many forms; from turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth to the local mobile home park that reduced their water usage by one million gallons last year through a community effort. Most people have done a good job conserving water indoors with low-flow showerheads, more efficient toilets, etc. but lots of work still needs to be done conserving outdoors.

Ocean Friendly Gardens (OFG) is an ongoing campaign that covers the outdoor water conservation aspect. OFG is all about CPR, which stands for Conservation, Permeability, and Retention. Whenever water leaves a property it has the ability to take pollutants with it. Fertilizers, pesticides, and oil are easily picked up by the power of water and transferred directly to our storm drains and into our rivers and oceans. While this runoff is greatest during rainstorms, urban runoff occurs all year round as a result of improper irrigation, washing cars on pavement, and hosing down driveways. In addition to conserving water by using native plants, requiring little to no fertilizers, and reducing or eliminating pesticide use, Ocean Friendly Garden’s have the added benefit or reducing urban runoff.

Imagine if we could stop sending treated wastewater out to the ocean and reuse this water to increase our local water supply. Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR), which is a funky name for water recycling, would help achieve that goal. Instead of spending time, built-in energy and money to send secondary or tertiary treated water to the ocean, we could take a couple of extra steps to treat the water further than health standards and mix it back in with our water supply. Sounds far-fetched to some, but the reverse osmosis and UV light treatments remove all bacteria and endocrine disruptors from pharmaceuticals and the resulting water is much purer than what is currently being delivered to Southern California. Reclamation for potable uses is the future; it has lower costs and is less energy intensive compared to desalination. Reclamation should be considered as the first choice in Southern California’s sustainable fresh water plan. Our current paradigm for reclaimed water – using it for irrigation – does nothing to promote conservation or the use of drought tolerant plants. Instead, it subsidizes golf courses and inappropriately planted public spaces such as highway medians.

Ocean desalination has received the most press and publicity lately as the largest ocean desal plant in the western hemisphere is planned for Carlsbad. Surfrider does not oppose desalination. We oppose desalination done poorly, and when it is prioritized over reclamation and conservation. Responsible desalination requires alternative intakes, unlike what is being proposed in Carlsbad. The Carlsbad proposal uses antiquated once-through-cooling infrastructure as the primary intake source for ocean water. This 30+ year-old dinosaur technology that has direct and unmitigatable impacts on marine life has been found to be illegal by federal courts. Mitigation of marine life impacts from impingement and entrainment through the use of the intake system by offering offsite wetland restoration misses the point – the law requires the use of new technologies to avoid the impacts in the first place. To continue to threaten marine life continually and indefinitely is short-sited and inexcusable while better technologies are available. Finally, the Carlsbad desalination plant sets a bad example for the issue statewide. The fact that we are in a drought condition does not justify ignoring our environmental laws.

We spend so much energy and effort to get water here that we must use it wisely. Visit www.surfriderSD.org to check out some great Know Your H2O videos, find more info on the issues along with links to great blogs and various ways to get involved. Share the videos with your friends and stay tuned for our action alert to let the decision makers know that you demand responsible ocean desalination.

The Need.

We wash our hands, wash our dishes, take long hot showers, wash our whites and colors separately, boil water for pasta, water our lawns, make slip n' slides.......

When the world is running short on water.

"Today, one-third of the world's population has to contend with water scarcity, and there are ominous signs that this proportion could quickly increase.

Up to twice as much water will be required to provide enough food to eliminate hunger and feed the additional 2.5 billion people that will soon join our ranks."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7881382.stm

The United States has every ability to be a leader in the push for conservation. If sub-Saharan Africa can prioritize environmentalism and create environmentally sustainable infrastructure, why can't the US? Why can't California?

We can. Whether we will is yet to be seen.

Poseidon's interpretation

Poseidon received a unanimous vote to postpone the final permit of their project in Carlsbad until they can produce an acceptable mitigation project for the damages their plant will cause. Here is an example of how they view it:

Dear ,

The Regional Water Quality Control Board met last week to consider approving the final condition of the discharge permit that they issued for the Carlsbad Desalination Project last April. The Board voted unanimously to consider final approval of the outstanding permit requirements at their hearing April 8, 2009 in Dana Point. This will draw the permitting process that began in 2003 to a close, clearing a path to begin construction later this year.

We will keep you updated on the Project developments,

Poseidon Resources

New Desalination Company Claims Better Methods

Oasys Water, a Massachusetts based desalination start-up company, has recently received $10 million in funding. By using what they called "Engineered Osmosis", rather than reverse osmosis, their method of desalination claims to reduce electricity and fuel costs by more than 90%. In effect, while reverse osmosis produces water at a cost of about $0.68 to $0.90 per cubic meter, Oasys estimates that engineered osmosis will cost about $0.37 to $0.44 per cubic meter.

For the Oasys Press Release Click Here.

Know Your H2O Stats - The Numbers Behind Your Use

Some Numbers
The average household in San Diego uses 10,500 gallons of water each month, or 350 gallons per day. By installing more efficient water fixtures, households can reduce daily water use by about 30%.

If every household in the U.S. installed these water-saving features, we would save an estimated 5.4 billion gallons of water per day, which results in a savings of $11.3 million per day or more than $4 billion per year.

How Small Changes Can Make Big Differences
Replacing your showerhead with a low-flow model can save up to 230 gallons a week.

Catching the water that comes through your pipes while waiting for hot water can save up to 50 gallons a week per person. Save the water in a bucket and water your plants or run your garbage disposal.

Hand-washing dishes just once a day using the least amount of detergent possible and a sprayer to rinse can save up to 100 gallons a week.

Water your lawn before dawn or after sunsets when there’s less evaporation. Adjusting your sprinklers so they don’t spray on sidewalks, driveway or street can save up to 250 gallons a week.

For more tips Click Here.

Coming Soon to a Beach Near You! Why Desalination is BAD.

While these images are not from Tampa Bay, they are engineering photos used to demonstrate what open ocean intake really looks like.

The following text was added to Wikipedia's Desalination page to lend some balance to the discussion. It is a summary of the Tampa Bay Desal project as adapted from the Tampa Bay Water website.

"The Tampa Bay Water Desalination project was originally a private venture led by Poseidon Resources. This project was delayed by the bankruptcy of Poseidon Resources successive partners in the venture, Stone & Webster, then Covanta (formerly Ogden) and its principle subcontractor Hydranautics. Poseidon's relationship with Stone & Webster through S & W Water LLC ended in June 2000 when Stone & Webster declared bankruptcy and Poseidon Resources purchased Stone & Webster's stake in S & W Water LLC. Poseidon Resources partnered with Covanta and Hydranautics in 2001, changing the consortium name to Tampa Bay Desal. Through the inability of Covanta to complete construction bonding of the project, the Tampa Bay Water agency was forced to purchase the project from Poseidon on May 15, 2002 and underwrite the project financing under its own credit rating. Tampa Bay Water then contracted with Covanta Tampa Construction, who produced a project that did not meet required performance tests, and Covanta Tampa Construction filed bankruptcy in October 2003 to prevent losing the contract with Tampa Bay Water, which resulted in nearly 6 months of litigation between Covanta Tampa Construction and Tampa Bay Water. The plant was not fully operational until 2007."

Click Here for the whole history.

Calculating your "Water Footprint" - Does conserving mean more beer and less clothing?

A journalist at the Wall Street Journal, Alexandra Alter, recently wrote an article titled "Yet Another 'Footprint' to Worry About: Water". Companies concerned about water rationing (and who have been burned by it in the past) are now tracking water use patterns to find more efficient ways of using this resource vital to life, manufacturing and production, and so can you! (see below)

In the article, Alex writes "It takes roughly 20 gallons of water to make a pint of beer, as much as 132 gallons of water to make a 2-liter bottle of soda, and about 500 gallons, including water used to grow, dye and process the cotton, to make a pair of Levi's stonewashed jeans. Though much of that water is replenished through natural cycles, a handful of companies have started tracking such "water footprints" as a growing threat of fresh-water shortages looms. Some are measuring not just the water used to make beverages and cool factories, but also the gallons used to grow ingredients such as cotton, sugar, wheat, tea and tomatoes. The drive, modeled partly on carbon footprinting, a widely used measurement of carbon-dioxide emissions, comes as groundwater reserves are being depleted and polluted at unsustainable rates in many regions."

I guess it reasons to follow that if we are serious about conservation, we ought to drink more beer and wear fewer clothes.

Click Here to read the whole article and view interactive graphics.
Water Footprint Calculator for your own customized water footprint!

And finally, a novel way to conserve water.