NORTH COUNTY TIMES - April 25, 2004

Public to view new desal plant plans

By Barbara Henry

Recently envisioned as a countywide water source and now contemplated simply as a North County coastal water provider, a proposed desalination plant and its accompanying pipelines will be scrutinized at two public hearings Wednesday.

Though decked out in new clothing, the $270 million project looks familiar.

It's still going on the same 4-acre site on Avenida Encinas next to the Encina Power Station, and it still will take the sea water that cools the power plant's equipment and turn it into drinking water.

What's new are pipeline paths, said Carlsbad associate planner Scott Donnell.

The amount of salt water converted to drinking water when the privately owned plant opens in late 2007 or early 2008 could be lower ---- 20 million to 50 million gallons a day as opposed to 50 million or more, but that could increase later, said Peter MacLaggan, senior vice president of the Connecticut-based developer Poseidon Resources.

The water won't go into a regional aqueduct as originally planned when the plant was proposed as a publically owned, countywide water provider. Instead, new underground pipes will connect the plant to a series of existing reservoirs and storage tanks in Oceanside, Carlsbad and San Marcos.

"I'm not sure people realize that," Donnell said.

Setting the stage

Pipeline paths probably will dominate much of the discussion at Wednesday's two public hearings, Donnell said. The proposed routes either run along existing streets, including Cannon Road, Faraday Avenue and much of Melrose Drive, or they journey through coastal habitat that is slated to be developed in the next few years.

Set for 1:30 and 6 p.m., the hearings at the city's planning offices on Faraday Avenue kick off work on the project's new Environmental Impact Report. Paid for by the developer and managed by the city, the $323,000 report will detail everything from the project's effects on wildlife to traffic congestion. Issues raised at the Wednesday meetings will set the stage for what will be studied in the coming months.

Among the environmentalists planning to attend will be representatives from the region's Sierra Club chapter. Other invited guests include a wide range of government officials, including ones from the federal Fish and Wildlife Department, state Fish and Game, and Carlsbad's neighboring cities.

The second report

One public hearing attendee ---- the San Diego County Water Authority ---- will have a fair bit of familiarity with the project. Poseidon originally approached the Water Authority with plans to build the plant and later sell it to the agency, which serves 23 cities and water agencies in San Diego County, including Carlsbad.

The two groups suspended negotiations in January after Poseidon refused to give the Water Authority documents the company said were confidential business documents. Though the negotiations ended, the water agency hasn't abandoned the concept, said Ken Weinberg, the agency's water resources director. A water agency Environment Impact Report is now halfway complete and is scheduled to be done in fall 2005, he said.

One critical element remains.

"We can't complete the EIR until we go on site," Weinberg said, adding that the Water Authority is holding off on asking the power plant for permission and watching how the new Poseidon proposal fares.

"We're (going to the Wednesday meetings) just like any other interested member of the public or any affected agency," he said.

More work to come

The Water Authority has other desalination plant proposals under consideration ---- one at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and one in southern San Diego ---- and needs to make a decision in the next two years about whether it will build the plants, Weinberg said.

"That's why we need to keep our planning processes moving forward," he said.

Meanwhile, Carlsbad officials said they hope to have their document done by the end of 2004 or early 2005, about the same time they want to begin processing permits for the project, which will remain privately owned after it is built.

Wednesday is the start of the public comment process. People will be able to review the draft document and make additional comments in midsummer, Donnell said. Then, planning commission and council meetings on the subject are expected in the fall. The last step would be for the project to go before the state's Coastal Commission.

Environmental Impact Report meetings

Times: 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.

Date: Wednesday, April 28

Place: the city of Carlsbad Faraday Center conference room, 1635 Faraday Ave.,

Contact person: Carlsbad associate planner Scott Donnell, (760) 602-4618

Project Web site: www.carlsbad-desal.com

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