It’s a mistake nearly every farmer has made when something breaks down on the farm. You try to patch it up as best you can. And then you do it again. And then maybe again before you finally decide to stop throwing good money after bad and actually fix what’s wrong.
When California embarked on its quest to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as a global model to stave off climate change, its first target was the state’s electric power industry. A series of ever-tightening decrees required utilities to shift from coal, natural gas and other carbon.based sources to a “renewable portfolio,” eventually reaching 100 percent non-carbon sources by mid-century.
A pesticide that growers use on crops from apples to walnuts, in the face of evidence that it can harm the farmworkers who spray it and the children who eat foods that contain it, is about to be outlawed in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration said Wednesday that it would ban the agricultural use of chlorpyrifos, an action from which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency backed away on a nationwide scale once President Trump assumed office.
As a farmer and researcher dedicated to a healthier and more sustainable food system, we often are asked how good food can be made cheaper and more affordable. Given the staggering rates of food insecurity in wealthy areas such as San Francisco which is struggling to meet its 2020 target for eliminating hunger we understand this interest in making food cheaper.
In just over a year’s time, the nation’s rainfall fortunes have shifted suddenly and dramatically. Rainfall famine has turned to rainfall feast. Thanks to its wettest 12-month period in recorded history, the amount of U.S. real estate covered by drought has plunged to its lowest level in recent decades, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Wednesday. But at the same time, excessive rainfall and flooding plague large areas of the country.
San Diego regional water quality regulators today issued a permit for the installation of new, technologically advanced and environmentally sensitive seawater intake and discharge facilities at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant.
The plant – and the new permit – support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s April 29 executive order for California “to think differently and act boldly by developing a comprehensive strategy to build a climate-resilient water system.”
Under the new National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, the Carlsbad plant will continue producing about 50 million gallons a day of high-quality, drought-proof drinking water for the region as Poseidon Water and the San Diego County Water Authority develop a permanent, stand-alone seawater intake and associated structures.
The new intake-discharge system is needed for long-term operations of the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant, which started commercial production in December 2015 using water withdrawn from Agua Hedionda Lagoon for once-through cooling at the Encina Power Station. So far, it has produced more than 46 billion gallons of drinking water with reverse osmosis technology.
“The Carlsbad Desalination Plant is an invaluable asset for the state and region that helps us adapt to the changing climate and sustain a $231 billion regional economy,” said Jim Madaffer, chair of the Water Authority’s Board of Directors. “It is the most environmentally sensitive and technologically advanced plant of its kind in the nation – part of our commitment to collaborative projects and integrated water solutions for San Diego and the Southwest.”
The closure of the power station in December 2018 led to temporary intake-discharge operations that will continue while new, stand-alone desal intake-discharge facilities are built. Conversion to stand-alone operations was anticipated in the 2012 Water Purchase Agreement between Poseidon, which owns and operates the desalination plant, and the Water Authority, which purchases the water for regional use. Currently, the plant provides about 10 percent of the region’s water supply.
“We are very thankful to the Regional Board for supporting the environmental enhancements of the Carlsbad project and water supply reliability for San Diego County,” said Poseidon CEO Carlos Riva. “This plant will continue to be a vital regional resource for decades to come and an example of how environmental stewardship can go hand-in-hand with water supply sustainability.”
Peter MacLaggan, senior vice president of project development with Poseidon Water, describes the water quality improvement at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant during a regional water quality control board public hearing in San Diego on May 8, 2019.
With the permit in hand, the transition to the new intake and discharge facilities will be implemented in three phases:
Once permanent operations begin, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant will be the first to comply with the 2015 Ocean Plan Amendment, designed to advance ocean water as a reliable supplement to traditional water supplies while protecting marine life and water quality.
Poseidon is also protecting the coastal environment by taking over responsibility for the preservation of Agua Hedionda Lagoon from NRG. As the lagoon’s steward, Poseidon Water is taking responsibility for ensuring the man-made lagoon continues to realize the life-sustaining benefits of an open connection to the Pacific Ocean through periodic maintenance dredging.
Dredging keeps sand from blocking the flow of ocean water in and out of the lagoon, maintaining its tidal circulation, which is needed to maintain a healthy marine ecosystem, support extensive recreational uses, sustainable aquaculture at Carlsbad Aquafarm, and a white seabass hatchery operated by Hubbs-SeaWorld. Dredging also helps replenish the sand on Carlsbad State Beach, which otherwise would revert to historical cobble-stone, with sand that is relocated from the lagoon to nearby shoreline.
Temporary operations are anticipated to cost about $6.5 million annually, increasing the cost of water from the plant in 2020 by about $135 per acre-foot. Permanent facilities are projected to cost between $66 million and $83 million. The Water Authority is seeking state grant funds to defray some of that cost.
The Water Authority purchases up to 56,000 acre-feet of water from the Carlsbad plant per year – enough to serve approximately 400,000 people annually. The plant is a major component of the Water Authority’s multi-decade strategy to diversify the county’s water supply portfolio and minimize vulnerability to drought or other water supply emergencies.
The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a permit Wednesday to develop and install permanent seawater intake and discharge facilities at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination Plantin Carlsbad. The plant currently produces roughly 50 million gallons of potable water each day for use across San Diego County, but draws most of its water from the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, which is then circulated to the plant by the Encina Power Station.
San Diego regional water quality regulators today issued a permit for the installation of new, technologically advanced and environmentally sensitive seawater intake and discharge facilities at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. The plant and the new permit support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s April 29 executive order for California “to think differently and act boldly by developing a comprehensive strategy to build a climate-resilient water system.”
It all began this February when Anne Jackson Hefti and friend Amy Ryan were walking their dogs in Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, and claim they were exposed to wind-drift toxic herbicide sprayed by workers there. “They were spraying in front of us and behind us and there were ‘No’ signs posted, and the area was not taped off to keep us off the trail,” said Jackson Hefti, adding Ryan “asked the contractors to stop spraying until we left the area.”
In seeking a five-year suspension of sales taxes on diapers and menstrual products, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that it was wrong for the government to increase the cost of essentials of life and that doing so hurt families. Newsom was praised by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, who has touted legislation to end sales taxes on infant and toddler diapers
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
