The Other Shoe: The California Drought - The Desalination Solution

The California Drought - The Desalination Solution

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Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. Well, it is now about four hours since I was here last time. I managed to rest for about three and a half to four of those hours, I did not sleep. Unfortunately for me I have come down with an upper respiratory infection. I have a raspy cough that burns like lava in my lungs. When I do expectorate, it tastes of blood. JOY!

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Regardless, I saw something on a news feed I follow that pertains to the drought here in California. I am going to try and rest, the rest of the day, but felt compelled to share this information with you, MY Dear Readers, prior to spending the rest of the morning, afternoon… day coughing. My frigging ears hurt! I touch them, and they hurt. [I know don’t touch them… lol]

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As the title of this article indicates the state of California is in the process of turning hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into a desalination plant. This is proven science, and they have been doing this in Saudi Arabia for (I think) a couple of decades, or more). However, it is very costly. .

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On top of the One Billion dollar price tag, the plant uses tremendous amounts of electricity for the process.

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“The process, however, is energy intensive and thus expensive, making it practical only in places where energy is cheap, such as the oil-rich Middle East.”[1]

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Now, this is the second desalination plant currently under construction in California. The first is in San Diego county and construction of that plant started in the late 90’s.

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“In the early 1990s, fears that a drought-induced limit to imported water could leave San Diego County with just a trickle from its scarce local supply prompted the regional water agency to include desalination as part of its long-term strategy, according to Bob Yamada, a planning manager with the San Diego County Water Authority. Today, the county's Carlsbad Desalination Project under construction is the largest seawater desalter in the Western Hemisphere.”[2]

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Get this, My Dear Readers, the plant’s final construction cost will run over One Billion dollars. Yet, it will provide only 7% of the county’s water requirements! That is really pricey for something that will only cover less than 10% of your fresh water needs. Now, do I need to tell you just who that water will get diverted too? Yes, the wealthy will be the only ones that can afford this pricey desalinated water. As evidenced by this Iquote:

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“The water authority is locked into a 30-year deal with the plant's developer, Poseidon Water, to purchase desalted water for about $2,000 an acre foot in 2012 dollars. That's nearly twice as expensive as the current rate for imported water and will add $5 to $7 per month to ratepayers' bills, which is about a 10 percent hike.”[3]

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This makes the desalinated water substantially more expensive that the water San Diego County has been importing, for decades, on top of the billion-dollar price tag for the plant. Then, there is the Other Shoe:

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“The Charles Meyer Desalination Facility in Santa Barbara, Calif. is something of a time capsule from the early 1990s when it was completed at a cost of $34 million. It only operated for a few months and has remained dormant for over twenty years.”[4]

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“Although the plant was permitted and constructed in just two years, it was never brought online. The rains returned and filled area reservoirs just as the desalter was completed. "It was really a challenge to continue and run and operate the facility given the much cheaper surface water,"[5]

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That sound you hear? That is the sound of The Other Shoe… dropping.

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In my humble opinion, the state of California will forever be plagued with droughts. The archeological record shows that California has spent the majority of antiquity cycling through 200 + year droughts. It is hubris (and a uninformed or ill-informed scientific mind) that would dismiss the geologic and archeological records out of hand. Whereas, the northern part of this insanely persistent dome of high pressure has relented in Northern California? There are no indications that the same will hold true, anytime soon, here in Southern California.

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: [caption id="attachment_2396" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Desalination Plant in Northern California[/caption]

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Well, I am running a 101 degree temp, my throat is sore, I am coughing… a raspy deathlike cough and I am really ill. It comes as no surprise to me. Combine; the financial pressures of the past six months, the insane writing and publishing schedule (even with my Speech to text program), and the running evening temperature spikes of the past six months and you get one sick Danny.

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Jeepers, how I wish I lived close to someone that gave a hoot and a holler. I could really use some hot chicken soup! ROFLOL…

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I am going to endeavor to rest, My Dear Readers. I have done my absolute best to write and publish… keep you informed and even entertained.

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As always I am deeply honored that you come here and read my work.

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Thank YOU!

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