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The Full-Scale Plant operational strategy would provide water supply during a drought to the City of Santa Cruz service area. During non-drought periods, the plant would provide water supply for Soquel Creek Water District (SqCWD). Concepts for an operational plan will be developed by the Task Force for final approval by the legislative bodies of both the City of Santa Cruz and Soquel Creek Water District. The plan shall include policies and procedures for determining when each agency would have primary use of the plant. Key issues include:
- SqCWD would use desalination facility to supply customers while resting existing wells to recharge the aquifer and protect ground water resources
- SCWD would coordinate with SqCWD for Santa Cruz use of the plant in drought periods
- Each agency would finance the operational costs of the plant associated with their use
The recommended plan features a 2.5 mgd desalination facility for drought supply with two future capacity increases of 1.0 mgd each, eventually totaling 4.5 mgd.
Project level environmental review will begin once the pilot test program is finished and a full-scale plant design is complete. Impacts evaluated in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will include, but are not limited to:
- energy requirements,
- emissions,
- outfall monitoring,
- impacts to marine species,
- impingement/entrainment, and
- public access to the coast.
Construction of a full-scale plant is dependent of the completion of the pilot program, technical review of the data collected, and environmental approval and permitting of a full-scale plant design. The preliminary project schedule anticipates full-scale plant design in 2012 with construction to be completed by 2015. A construction estimate has not yet been developed since the desalination program is in its investigative phase and there is insufficient detail of a full-scale facility at this time.
