Is San Diego County Facing Water Crisis?

10News.com

October 19, 2007

San Diego County is in the driest two-year period since record-keeping began in 1801.

It rained in San Diego on Sept. 22, and it did not rain very much -- just 0.05 of an inch at Lindbergh Field. It was the first measurable rainfall in San Diego in 151 days.

Additionally, the Sierra snow pack is down and the Colorado River, where San Diego gets 40 percent of its water, is in a record eight-year drought.

The Sacramento Delta, where San Diego gets another 40 percent of its water, will be sending less to the county because a federal judge put severe restrictions on pumping in order to protect an endangered fish, the Delta Smelt.

Dennis Cushman of the County Water Authority said, "It's a big blow; a blow not just to San Diego but to all of California that relies on the Bay Delta."

Farmers will be the first and hardest hit. They are facing 30 percent water cutbacks on Jan. 1 due to the judge's order.

"If there's a wet winter now, it's not going to cure the problem. We're dealing with Delta Smelt, which is a legal issue instead of an environmental or nature issue," said farmer Noel Stehly.

Stehly is a third-generation farmer. To cut back on water, he is losing avocado trees.

"To make the cutbacks, it's 30 percent," said Stehly.

San Diego County has added water storage in recent years and spent a lot to increase its water supply. However, reservoirs are at 60 percent capacity and there is concern.

"Well, we're always concerned. When you live in arid Southern California you depend on imported water and you count on Mother Nature, you're always concerned," said Cushman.

San Diegans are being asked to conserve and to be aware.

Still, not everyone is convinced of a water problem for the area.

"Who do you believe? How much of a crisis is there really?" asked one local resident.

Stehly knows what he has to do.

"I'm going to put in better sprinkler systems. I'm going to use green waste mulch. I'm going to go after every leaky faucet. I don't care if it's in the kitchen or in the yard," he said.

Officials are warning residents that there will be less water and all should be ready.

Research has shown that the levees that carry water from the Delta south are old and vulnerable to an earthquake or other natural disaster, which would ultimately cause major problems with the water supply.

Possible Solutions In The Works

San Diego’s dry climate has been a concern for years. In 1915, the city of San Diego hired a rainmaker. During that time, the city, then as now, was in the middle of a drought.

Charles Hatfield would be paid $10,000 if his rainmaking machine could perform a miracle.

Days of rain came, flooding Mission Valley but Hatfield never received payment and lawsuits were filed because of flood damage.

So, what would San Diegans from long ago think about the idea of turning wastewater into drinking water?

Today, some think it is an idea whose time has come.

"I think a lot of people like to deny the fact that we live in the desert and imagine our water comes from a pristine source," said environmental lawyer Marco Gonzalez.

Gonzalez represents the environmental groups Coastkeeper and Surfrider.

He admitted reclaiming water -- what critics call "toilet-to-tap" -- is a tough sell, but these are desperate times.

Supporters of reclamation said the Colorado River, San Diego County's leading source of water, is already tainted with waste-like storm runoff and sewage during its long run to San Diego.

Experts said that water has been through someone's toilet at some point during the process.

Toilet-to-tap literally goes from the sewer into a water plant where it is treated.

The 10News I-Team learned that a reclamation plant in the University City area could handle 30 million gallons of raw sewage a day. However, it is not doing anything near that now. Water goes through a series of purifying steps and is pumped out into a 79-mile maze of pipes to customers for irrigation and landscaping.

Before anyone could drink the water, it would have to go through several more purifying steps.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and the city council would have to approve the next steps, experts said. Time and cost would depend on the plan of action.

Attorney Mark Mazzarella who sued the city in 1999 for using taxpayer money to push for toilet-to-tap, still opposes the idea. "Long-term effects of this, we just don't know," he said.

"We're re-circulating sewage that is being filtered through a process that has to let water molecules through. Anything smaller than a water molecule is going to pass through, including a lot of bacteria, human hormones, E. coli, all kinds of scary things," said Mazzarella.

Bruce Reznik of environmental group Coastkeeper thinks San Diego has no choice and reclaiming water is a viable option.

"This water is safe. You just have to get over the public perception it is not safe or healthy," said Reznik.

Those opposed to toilet-to-tap often suggest desalination as a solution, but not everyone is on board with that idea, the I-Team learned.

The proposal? Poseidon Resources proposed a plant that would take in water from the ocean, filter it and deliver 50 million gallons of fresh water a day.

Reznik said, "even if you're not a tree-hugger and don't care, desalination is a costly way to get water."

Reznik opposes desalination because of long-term concerns about marine life around the plant.

The plant builders said that is not a big deal.

"The impact on fish on a daily basis is comparable to the diet of one pelican," said Peter MacLaggan of Poseidon Resources.

Poseidon Resources wants to build the plant at Encina Power Plant in Carlsbad at Agua Hedionda Lagoon.

"We're talking about producing a water supply for 300,000 San Diego residents," said MacLaggan.

The county could use the water, but at what cost?

Mazzarella said, "It's a high energy user."

"That's not the direction we should be going in, with public awareness increasing about global warming and energy use in California," said Reznik.

Already Poseidon Resources has agreements with 7 water districts to buy the water if and when it goes into operation in 2010.

If approved, the plant would be the largest ocean-water desalination plant in California.

The I-Team has learned that the plant has many regulatory hoops to jump through before it is built.

Reclamation has a major public relations problem, with the main one being the toilet-to-tap label.

Experts said the cheapest and easiest solution to swallow is conservation.

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