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By Debbie Cook, cross-posted from Surf City Voice
On March 11, the San Diego Union-Tribune posted an op-ed, “Desalination makes sense for Orange County,” “written” by Assemblywoman and former OC Supervisor Pat Bates (Laguna Niguel). It’s not clear why she was addressing the California Coastal Commission, as the project is not on its March agenda.
The Tribune chose not to allow comments on her article. So here’s my response to her piece, a piece which reads as if it were lifted from a Poseidon Resources press release.
I felt like she was goading me from her first sentence: “Anyone who has stepped outside in the past year has undoubtedly seen the effects of our state’s historic drought conditions.”
Perhaps Ms. Bates should take a look around her own district before she spouts off with her dire news of “empty reservoirs, dry wells, and brown, arid landscapes across California.”
Orange County is the poster child of disregard for the drought: lush green expanses of grass in front of strip malls, road medians, HOAs, government facilities, and private properties. Any claim she makes that South Orange County has “tried” to do its part is laughable.
It’s telling that Bates would chime in on a project proposed outside her district (which runs roughly from Dana Point to Cardiff by the Sea in San Diego County.) Her district imports nearly 100 percent of its water. North Orange County imports only 30 percent and it could be zero if we managed the groundwater basin equitably.
“Trying” isn’t good enough, especially when it places the burden of costly boutique desalinated water on those who are actually “doing” something.
Residents of Santa Ana and Westminster are close to an ideal goal of consumption of 100 gallons per person per day. At the other extreme are communities like Villa Park and Northern San Diego County, where your average person squanders 500 gallons a day.
And WHY is 100 gallons per person per day ideal? Because at that level, North Orange County could get nearly ALL of its water from the groundwater basin.
The manner of water allocation used by the Orange County Water District and its member agencies places a disproportionately higher cost burden on those who consume the least amount of water. In effect, those who aren’t just “trying” but are implementing conservation will be subsidizing the explosive costs of ocean desalinated water.
And if North Orange County went all in for an ocean desalination project, would Bates be sponsoring a bill to enable the OCWD ratepayers to subsidize water sales to South Orange County water agencies?
Bates then goes on to cheerlead for desal: “Southern California communities have rallied behind desalinated ocean water as a reliable, safe and environmentally friendly solution to long-term water shortages.”
It’s interesting to note that a small consortium of communities in Bates’ own district have spent millions of dollars building and evaluating a pilot project in Dana Point only to discover they couldn’t “rally” enough support for such an expensive endeavor.
Bates mentions the “nearly completed” project in Carlsbad. But we are still waiting to see how the San Diego County Water Authority allocates the costs of this project, a painful task they have been discussing and postponing since 2012. The devil is in the details, details that were not sorted out prior to signing a “take or pay” contract.
Bates laughably refers to desal as “out of the box” thinking, but in reality it’s a knee jerk reaction by politicians who have ignored California’s failed water policies, archaic water laws, and fractured governance.
Addressing long term water needs requires long term thinking which will never be the domain of politicians in Sacramento.
It’s much easier for elected officials to apply a “technical” “fix” when they know they’ll be out of office before the bill arrives.
What we DO need are courageous politicians who dare to engage with citizens in understanding and exploring solutions that actually address water needs and not water wants.
North Orange County doesn’t need an ocean desalination project, and we haven’t even figured out what we’d do with the water. If Ms. Bates believes she needs one in the South County, then by all means she should deal with that there.
-See more at: http://www.surfcityvoice.org/2015/03/drought-politics-pat-bates-baits-union-tribune-readers-with-doomsday-scenario/
Damn, I’m sick of looking at that 30 year-old picture. Bates graduated from college in 1958.
Bates got a nice campaign gift from Poseidon who not coincidentally is building a desal plant in Carlsbad.
you’re right zenger. I thought only realtors use such old pictures except for oj blog and its 30 year old picture of Debbie Cook.
LOL… If you’ve seen Debbie recently you’d know she still looks a lot the same as she ever did – having a good soul will do that.
Old friend.
please put a recent picture and your old file photo of Debbie cook side by side. I am not saying anything positive or negative about her looks. looks are shallow way of judging people. I am only commenting on the age of the photo you use of her. and only because there was a comment on the age of Bate’s photo. seriously, if cook looks like that today you should use an updated photo of her! that would be awesome if she looks the same.
I wouldn’t recognize Debbie Cook old or new. But I find it vastly amusing for a 77 year old woman to show a picture of herself from the early days of the Reagan Years.
On the not funny sign, this woman was starting to show signs of incipient dementia an she hardly ever showed up for work. And I doubt if she could write a coherent sentence all by herself.
Poseidon is outdated.
The Seimen system converts salt water to fresh with electricity and no fossil fuels nor any pollution nor any ill effects on fish. The Australians are using it. Why not us?
Great article! Yes, why desal 1st, and not conservation, or a tiered water rate bill!
BEFORE SELLING OUR SOULS TO POSEIDON DESAL, WHY NOT INCENTIVIZE CONSERVATION?
If every city was like Westminster and a couple other cities that use only around 100 gallons/person/day, then our aquifer would be enuf for all, and we would all pay less, for it only costs about $500/AF. But alas, we have to pay for the excess water rate those water pigs who water the streets & sidewalks (even on rainy weeks), and hose them down weekly too, and take 20+ minute showers, etc…. Thus, we need to supplement our aquifer with 28% more imported water that costs about $1000/AF. Not only that, we are being told we NEED to spend billions $ on Poseidon Desal water at $1800-2400/AF JUST TO INSURE pigs can keep their water trough.
Why not do a tiered water rate bill (like our SCE bill is) and save maybe 40% water by incentivizing conservation (grass alone is 60% of OC water use)? Then we wont need ANY imported/desal water!!! Why do we have to continue to subsidize the water pigs’ water? What happened to our conservative mantra, “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and pay YOUR OWN WAY?”
BWareh, conservation HAS come first. most are under 100 gallons a day and we still are way overdrawn, aquifer would not be full. Poseidon water is not 18800-2400 acre foot but 1200. tiered rates are fine if it costs more to serve your neighbor than you. but that is highly doubtful. thus it would be illegal under the state constitution to charge him more per drop of water than you. sounds like we could take short showers, have no grass, cut to sustenance water use (no pools, potted plants, pets,etc.) or simply augment our water with Poseidon. that is the choice. of course businesses will close, home values go down, jobs lost, etc. with extreme rationing. but at least no Poseidon. we showed them!