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South County likely to get Diablo desal water

August 26, 2015

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power PlantThe San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors gave unanimous support Tuesday to a plan to pipe desalinated water from Diablo Canyon to South County homes.

The board directed county staff to begin planning the construction of a seven-mile pipeline from the nuclear power plant to Port San Luis in Avila Beach. There, the drinking water would connect to a South County distribution system.

PG&E’s desalination plant at Diablo Canyon can provide 1,000 acre-feet of water at full capacity. All of that water could go to South County residents.

The county is also considering constructing an 11-mile pipeline from Diablo Canyon to Los Osos. County officials are not as supportive of that project, though.

County staffers say the pipeline to Avila Beach would cost between $8 million and $11 million and would take a year to complete.

The county plans to apply for drought-relief grants from the state to help finance the project. Additional funds are expected to come from contracts the county would negotiate with South County water purveyors.

The board has yet to give final approval of the project. It instructed staff to return to the board with a progress report in January.


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Does anybody care that I don’t want Diablo Canyon’s desal water?


I don’t trust Diablo Canyon to run a nuclear power plant, and I sure as heII don’t trust them to provide my water supply.


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Again action is fast in the south county but in the north we wait for Debbie and Cindy’s County Control District to help us . Doing a great job ! NOT!


We need our own District, more evidence!


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We need a good rain dancer and nothing else. We already pay for a district that is compliant to the SGMA requirements so I ask why pay for a new layer that can’t make rain clouds or dance. The truth is that the only water that a new district can create is the spit from flapping lips that say give me your money. I say if they want your private water rights, they should make a purchase offer like any other country where private property rights are constitutional. Remember that if you buy land with no water it is cheap and so are the taxes but if you buy land blessed with water it is expensive and the property taxes are too! This whole discussion has become a public harrassment and the more Gov supporters are, yes, wanting what they have not bought. Civil rights come in may shapes and colors which include color of title.


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What are the risks of getting this desal water from that plant? It sounds kind of dicey to me…


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It’s the new glow-in-the-dark energy drink.


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Not doing this would be economically backwards thinking. Of course they need to do this and on top of that, this county could use another desal plant. The waters there, use it!


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South county residents likely to glow in the dark…


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South county water users — hold onto your hats! Your water rates will skyrocket with this scheme.


As for completing the pipeline in a year. Really? How do you get the EIR and all the permits and the construction done in that length of time? This should be interesting.


And, if further growth takes place dependent upon this water, what happens when Diablo shuts down and this water goes away?


So many questions, so few answers.


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And don’t forget the lawsuits from the enviro-nuts, guaranteed they will try to suck up as much taxpayer money without actually getting any work done, and then possibly announce, once the natural drought cycle ends, that the pipeline is not needed. The only people this will benefit is the lawyers, and a few contractors that will likely be paid before any work is done and then just never required to return the money when the project is canceled.


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K-nut, the county’s own, existing policy is to prioritize reclamation and desalination of brackish water (among other sources) ahead of open-ocean intake desalination. The localities have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to study desal and reclamation, with study after study showing reclamation is far more efficient and cost effective than desal.


This proposal is a political stunt. There were no representatives from the Five Cities councils or boards to say “This is what we want”. Adam Hill is working to institutionalize open ocean intake for the benefit of PG&E, and the other Supervisors are just going along with it because their own district’s resources are either not managed, or they are mismanaged, and that is the real reason localities are facing a water supply emergency. That is a fact.


If the Supervisors want to spend money on water projects, why wouldn’t they spend the money on projects that conform to existing policy?


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“And, if further growth takes place dependent upon this water…”


Of course it will. No government in this county is willing to look at the fact- exponential growth with a restricted resource is untenable. It’s not complicated, but it’s politically impossible to say “we have to stop building, we don’t have enough water resources for continued growth”. You don’t get campaign checks from rich developers with a line like that!


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Let’s delve a little deeper into the root of the problem. As long as people continue to reproduce at the rate they are, there will continue to be shortages of natural resources—it is just a matter of simple math. When we look at it that way, we must come to understand that those who intentionally choose religious affiliations that deny the use of birth control are taking a position that ignores these facts. Unchecked population growth will eventually result in shortages of both food and water. It is simple supply and demand.


People like to feel they are “doing the right thing”-but are they? I watched a woman in Santa Maria the other day when I traveled there for an appointment. She had 6 children with her, and was standing on a street corner waiting for the signal to turn. The smallest child nearly stepped into oncoming traffic, and she looked like she was in a trance, as the children took care of one another. This isn’t responsible parenting, and those children will likely have large families also. Birth control is free these days—-but she likely was not permitted to use it.


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YES!!


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