Water Harvesting Plan Changes Course

A water entrepreneur announced Friday that he is dropping efforts to tap two scenic North Coast rivers but will press ahead with plans to harvest water from other sources in the region for export to Southern California in gigantic oceangoing bags floated down the coast.

Ric Davidge, president of Alaska Water Exports, said he would not try to pump from the Albion and Gualala Rivers because of intense local and state opposition as well as the huge costs of surmounting California’s environmental reviews.

Davidge said it would cost as much as $1 million per river to provide the environmental documentation required for the plan, which involved planting a two-foot pipeline up the spine of each river. In a letter to the state Water Resources Control Board, he said it is clear that a big investment to overcome environmental concerns “makes little sense in the face of no real assurance that there is any return.”

Foes of the water export plan cheered Davidge’s announcement, which came after the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously Friday to protest the plan, which has also drawn opposition from several California lawmakers.

“Friday the 13th is our lucky day,” said Ursula Jones of Friends of the Gualala River.

The two rivers, in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, drew support over the last year from the region’s collection of latter-day hippies, environmentally minded urban refugees, nature-loving merchants of tourism and bedrock farming community. Davidge vowed to not give up. He said his company is in negotiations with several municipal districts in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest to purchase surplus water. The water would be loaded in poly-fiber bags the length of a World War II battleship and towed down the coast to communities such as San Diego and Monterey.

He would not reveal what water districts he is talking to. But several in the North Coast and in Oregon have surplus water for sale because of the demise of paper pulp factories, lumber mills and fish packing plants that used vast quantities of fresh water. In the Eureka area, for instance, the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District has advertised on its Web site the sale of up to 20 million gallons of water per day for industries interested in locating in the area.

Carole Rische, the district’s general manager, said Davidge has made contact but no negotiations are underway. She called any plan to ship water “a political hot potato.”

Davidge said the recent decision by water officials in the Imperial Valley to forgo the sale of water to San Diego adds momentum to his proposal.

Coastal regulators expressed concerns about the proposal Friday before learning of Davidge’s decision. Environmental issues range from the effect of the bags on other boats navigating coastal waters to impact on whale migration, scenic effects and the possibility that a bag -- more than 850 feet long and 100 feet wide with a draft of 24 feet -- could run aground.

Davidge has said most of those concerns are unjustified. Some critics of Davidge say they suspect his real intent is to tap West Coast water for international markets, or to fuel a lawsuit against the state. Davidge called such theories “hogwash.”