Water, water everywhere

It's true. San Diego is surrounded by water. "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink," bemoaned the Ancient Mariner. This supply is called the Pacific Ocean. "Look out the window at the biggest reservoir right in our backyard," suggested Scott Maloni of Poseidon Resources, one of the speakers at a June forum.

A panel of experts on water procurement and hydrology research addressed one of San Diego's most critical problems impacting growth. A shortage of water resources has launched a rationing program that may develop into severe cut-backs in consumption.

The speakers' forum at the University Club gave dismal predictions for the future of water resources for San Diego County. For instance, how can San Diego retain its share of water from the San Francisco Bay Delta system? Currently it is the principal source of our supply and is likely to be reduced. According to Thomas Wornham, a director of the San Diego County Water Authority, it will cost $1 billion to upgrade the Delta system of levees to meet the needs of the many communities it serves.

In today's California fiscal crisis, such a costly project is unlikely. So, what are the other options?

One obvious solution offered by Maloni is desalination of our bountiful source of ocean water. Poseidon Resources is currently installing a desalination plant in Carlsbad as an adjunct to the Encino Power Plant. When complete, 300,000 residents will be serviced from the first commercial conversion of salt water in San Diego County. Military bases have used this water source for many years in a limited capacity.

Maloni was quick to explain that it has not been easy to get into this technology so vital in an arid ecosystem. It took seven years and 150 public hearings to secure a permit. Any construction in the coastal zone that impacts environmental issues is no piece of cake.

Desalination has not been seriously considered due to the cost per acre foot compared to piping the water from the Colorado River or the San Francisco Delta.

Maloni claims it is now feasible with new technology that reduces energy cost about 50 percent to make sea water drinkable. He points out that energy is needed to pump the water 500 miles from the north or 200 miles from the east over mountainous terrain.

The other option is the old maligned proposal to process grey water another time to be potable. The effort was killed two decades ago when Mayor Golding called it "toilet to tap" creating public backlash. Now with water rationing and diminishing supplies being imported, the third reclamation from two waste water processing plants in San Diego County is back for consideration.

One forum speaker, Tom Wornham, said it has potential once the public is convinced they are not really drinking toilet water after it is purified. In fact, studies have shown that the untreated water coming down the Colorado River is much more toxic than the grey water now being pumped out to sea. Estimates vary, but some hydrology experts suggest millions of galleons of reclaimable waste water are thrown away each day.

In support of these propositions for water resources, another panel speaker used charts and graphs to document San Diego's natural water shortfall. R. Edward Beighley, Phd., associate professor at San Diego State University and director of Spatial Hydrology Research Lab, consults with agricultural interests to keep enough water supply in a declining ecosystem of scarce rainfall. He predicts an eight-degree increase in temperatures by 2020.

July featured another probe into "the true value of water" when Maureen Stapleton, general manger of San Diego County Water Authority, addressed the UC San Diego Economics Roundtable. Here are a few of the key factors in bringing water to an arid region for three million consumers:

* Since 1991, there has been a 31 percent cut in supply

* 90 percent of San Diego water is imported

* San Diego is in a second-level draught alert, the worst since 1991

* Desalination is only one of several options to increase local water supply

Cost of imported water ranges from 25 cents an acre foot from the Colorado River to $350 an acre foot from the Imperial Valley water sharing because of early agreements with the Colorado River Basin states.

The San Francisco Delta infrastructure is being ignored until there is a crisis, Stapleton warned. It's just like the state budget crises. "A reliable source of water will make or break the California economy," she concluded.

All of this input is a big dose to swallow. Without the 25-year strategic plan under the management of the San Diego Water Authority, San Diego could suffer a huge thirst by mid-century, or earlier if the drought continues.

Ford is a freelance writer based in San Diego. He can be reached at johnpatrick.ford@sddt.com.