In the News
Santa Cruz Officials Defend Desalination via Media
International Desalination & Water Reuse Quarterly, 09/15/2009
The general manager of the Soquel Creek Water District and the director
of the Santa Cruz Water Department have taken the unusual step of jointly
addressing the residents of the Californian city area via the media
about the issue of water supply, desalination and population growth
-- a hot topic in the US state.
The city and district are jointly pursuing seawater desalination as
a supplemental water source, which is expected to become available around
2015. As currently envisioned, this facility would add 2.5 MGD (9,500
m³/d) capacity to the city water system, which could provide upwards
of 500 million gallons (1.9 million m³) over the dry season as a backup
supply in times of drought.
In a
column in the Santa Cruz Weekly on 9 September 2009, Laura Brown
and
"A supplemental supply is needed to meet today's water use as well as projected
demand within the district's service area through 2050," say the
two water managers. "The district is faced with the serious condition
of overdraft of the aquifers underlying the Soquel/Aptos area, currently
the sole source of water supply for district customers."
They point out that the predicted water needs within the unincorporated
areas served by the city and the district are consistent with the county's
1994 General Plan and voter-approved Measure J, which limits growth
to 1% per year. The proposed desalination project will be used as a
supplemental source during droughts and to restore overdrafted aquifers,
Brown and Kocher emphasise.
"It is not designed, or intended, to accommodate