Vote on Future of Oceanside’s Desalination Plant Postponed : Water: Without project, city would have only a two-hour to two-day supply of water if an earthquake severed supply lines.

A decision on the fate of the first desalination plant in the county was delayed Wednesday by the Oceanside City Council, despite strong urging from local residents and water officials who say the city desperately needs an emergency water source in the event of a major earthquake.

Without a vote, the council, led by Melba Bishop in the absence of Mayor Larry Bagley, opted to postpone making a decision on continued funding for the $4-million project until next Wednesday. Bagley was out of town on family business.

Bishop and Councilman Sam Williamson said they need more time to examine documents on the project.

Those documents include a proposed contract under which the Metropolitan Water District would subsidize the costs for the next 20 years by paying Oceanside the difference in price between desalinated water and supplies from the MWD.

They also include a study recently completed by city consultants analyzing Oceanside’s water supply and future needs.

The project, parts of which are already completed, would pump brackish water from wells in the San Luis Rey River Valley, filter out salts and metals that now make it undrinkable, and provide 2 million gallons a day of fresh water to the city’s 138,000 residents, said Barry Martin, the city’s water utilities director.

The desalination plant would supplement water supplies from the MWD during droughts and would give the city its only local supply of fresh water if an earthquake were to disrupt deliveries to San Diego County via aqueducts from Northern California and the Colorado River.

Should a major quake occur, Martin said, Oceanside could run out of water in two hours to two days. The city has a maximum storage capacity of 40 million gallons, and the city’s customers use an average of 30 million gallons a day.

The city for several decades has been totally dependent on water imported through MWD aqueducts in northern San Diego County, which are within 60 miles of the epicenters of earthquakes that slammed Yucca Valley and Big Bear on Sunday.

If a major earthquake were to sever the water link “cities (such) as Oceanside (would be) unlivable,” said Michael Welch, a consulting engineer hired by Oceanside to design the desalination plant.

Martin said the project would have no impact on water bills, although it costs more to desalinate water. The reason is the MWD subsidy. Not only that, but estimates show that it will be cheaper to desalinate local water than buy imported water by the turn of the century as the cost of imported water continues to skyrocket, he said.

Martin and Welch said that, if the city fails to take advantage of its water rights in the San Luis River Valley soon, others may claim the water because state water rights law is based on the “use it or lose it proposition.”

Councilwoman Nancy York said she called for the hearing because residents told her they oppose desalination because of the cost and possible effect on water rates.

But no opposition emerged Wednesday. Instead, speaker after speaker during the two-hour hearing urged the city to go ahead and build the plant now.

“When I look at your two-day (water) supply I worry about you,” said Herbert Stickney, a director of MWD, the San Diego County Water Authority and the Rainbow Municipal Water District, which borders Oceanside to the northeast.

Oceanside is lucky to have the river valley as a water source, he said.

“I would be willing to pay more on my water bill to get the project off the ground,” said Oceanside resident Al Theal.

“People say why now?”’ said Patricia Cope, another Oceanside resident. “I say why not before. I feel it’s about time.”

“I strongly recommend you get on this train today,” said Lloyd Prosser, chairman of the city’s Utilities Commission. “If we can’t count on earthquakes, we can count on drought.”.