Water Authority, SDG&E; Hold Talks on Desalination

Officials of San Diego County’s water and power agencies huddled Tuesday to explore the possibility of turning ocean water into drinking water.

After the session, Byron Buck, County Water Authority planning director, said the consensus was “very positive, that there is a definite possibility of a joint venture” to explore the feasibility of a combination desalination and power plant.

Bruce Williams, generation projects manager for San Diego Gas & Electric Co., said the prospect of a joint desalination project and power plant, although “still in the talking stages,” holds promise.

“We were just there to listen to their (CWA officials’) proposal,” to build a desalting plant in conjunction with a proposed new SDG&E; power plant, Williams said.

Such a plant could produce from 20 million to 40 million gallons of water a day at a cost of from $700 to $900 an acre foot, Buck said. He estimated the cost of the desalination plant would be $250 million to $300 million.

SDG&E; is studying several sites for their proposed $400-million power generation plant, including two which could be adapted to a joint power and water desalting facility. Sites at Carlsbad, near the present Encina generating plant, and in South Bay near the present Chula Vista power plant, would provide saltwater supplies for the desalination operation.

Buck said that the county water agency has looked at Metropolitan Water District studies on desalination, which were rejected as infeasible by the giant Southern California water agency.

“Those studies were based on retrofitting old plants,” Buck said, “and we are talking about a completely different thing, starting from the ground floor and designing a complementary system.”