By: Gary Knight - For the North County Times
Friday, October 5, 2007
If you have been reading the papers, watching TV or listening to the radio, you know that San Diego County is suffering from drought conditions that regularly occur every few years.
A small fish that is on the endangered list called the Delta smelt lives in the water supply from Northern California, where a great deal of our water comes from. The courts have ruled that this fish must be preserved. The practical effect of this ruling is that the quantity of water being funneled south to this region must be reduced. The reduction in our water supply could amount to 30 percent less than we normally receive, and this means that we may be forced to cut back usage.
"Water, water, everywhere,
"And all the boards did shrink;
"Water, water, everywhere,
"Nor any drop to drink."
This is an excerpt from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the 18th century. He told of a mariner who was at sea and had run out of drinking water, very similar to our circumstances in this region. We have a giant body of water to our west, but the ocean water is not potable, at least not until recently.
Back in 2000, a company known as Poseidon Resources proposed building a desalination plant in Carlsbad that would turn ocean water into clean drinking water. Over the last seven years or more, Poseidon Resources has been planning, testing, collecting data and operating a demonstration facility to prove that an area located on the Encina power plant facility would make a suitable site for this project.
The project has faced many challenges from a number of groups that questioned its viability and impact on the environment. The end result is that Poseidon has received a green light from all of the oversight agencies and the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) has been approved by the city of Carlsbad.
The final discretionary approvals needed, before construction of the Carlsbad Desalination Project, will be the subject of public hearings before the State Lands Commission on Oct. 30 and the California Coastal Commission from Nov. 14 through 16 in San Diego.
It is time for the residents of North County to take seriously the need for a drought-resistant water supply and urge our elected and appointed officials to help us in securing this important resource. If you would like your voice heard, please e-mail your comments to me, and I will present them to the commissions on your behalf. |
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