Oceanside approves desal agreement

By: MARGA KELLOGG - Staff Writer
Poseidon would provide 4.5M gallons a day | Thursday, December 20, 2007 9:54 PM PST ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- The City Council has approved a 30-year agreement with Poseidon Resources LLC of San Diego to purchase 5,000 acre feet, or 4.5 million gallons a day, of desalinated water, when the company opens a facility at the Encina Power Plant in Carlsbad.

The city will not pay more for the water than it does for water supplied by the San Diego County Water Authority and a subsidy received by the city from the Metropolitan Water District, according to the agreement. The subsidy would be no less than $250 per acre foot and would be received as part of Metropolitan's Seawater Desalination Program.

The Council voted 4-1 Wednesday to approve the agreement, with Councilwoman Esther Sanchez voting no.

Sanchez said she had initially considered the idea because she thought there would be a substantial savings, rather than just a guarantee that the cost would not exceed what the city is paying other suppliers.

In August, when the council unanimously directed city staff to begin the negotiations with Poseidon, Sanchez expressed concern that such a water purchase would be a departure from buying from a public entity that has no notion of profit.

Other council members supported the agreement Wednesday, saying it's important for Oceanside to become more self-sufficient when it comes to water supply.

The city's daily imported water demand is about 30 million gallons. The Robert A. Weese Filtration Plant treats approximately 25 million gallons daily and a small portion of the Tri-City area of Oceanside receives about 5 million gallons daily of treated water from the San Diego County Water Authority.

The Poseidon water would replace water used in that Tri-City area.

"Seeing the San Luis Reservoir as I was flying back from San Francisco last week was pretty scary. That's the key to our supply," said Councilman Jerry Kern. "This guarantees us at least a partial supply."

Contact staff writer Marga Kellogg at (760) 901-4067 or mkellogg@nctimes.com.

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