Current news

March 2010

 

March 26th, 2010

Carlsbad desalination plant moves closer to final approval, reports SDD

 A controversial proposal to operate a seawater desalination plant in North County that’s already under construction moved a step closer to final approval Friday, when a state water agency rejected appeals from two environmental groups for the third time.

 The State Water Resources Control Board dismissed appeals from the Surfrider Foundation and San Diego Coastkeeper to deny a permit for the Poseidon Resources desalination plant under construction in Carlsbad.

 To read more click here

Legislative Analyst’s Office reports on legislation needed to improve water management.

Liquid Assets: Improving Management of the State’s Groundwater Resources

California’s water system is facing a series of challenges affecting water availability, reliability, and delivery. Reevaluating how groundwater is managed is necessary if it is to achieve its full potential as a reliable source of water. In this report, we present the Legislature with a series of actions that would be phased in over a period of time to address current and emerging groundwater management issues, including bringing science and law together to  accurately reflect the physical interconnection of surface water and groundwater. (24 pp.)

Click here for full report

Liquid Assets: Improving Water Management

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San Juan Producing Excess Fresh Water           

By Peter Schelden, OC  Register, Friday, January 22, 2010
        The groundwater-recovery plant the city owns and runs
has been producing more fresh water than San Juan Capistrano
can use since Christmas, City Manager Joe Tait said.
        The plant now produces 2.2 million to 4.3 million gallons per
day, leaving an average surplus of 1 million gallons, Assistant Utilities
Director William Curry said.  For more information click here. 

“Water Bond Proposal Enables Water Privatization” By Robert Cruickshank

 reported in California Progress Report Jan. 3, 2010
“Private companies could own, operate and profit from reservoirs and other water-storage projects built with billions in taxpayer dollars under a little-noticed provision of the $11.1 billion water bond that was approved by the Legislature and goes before California voters next year. ”
  For more information, click here

California Desalination Report With More Than a Grain
of Subjectivity Part 2 from Natural Nutrition Works Dec. 22, 2009
Has discussion of costs of water from usual sources and desal
 

 

  Desal and “Carbon” ated Water: Coastal Commission Should Make the Carlsbad Project Offset ALL Carbon Impacts, Jonas Minton 1-11-2010

An excellent review of highly questionable assumptions made by Poseidon and relevant to the Feb. 2010 Revocation Hearings in Carlsbad. For more information click here.

Poseidon’s Financial Shell Game:

       http://www.alternet.org/water/144043/poseidon’s_financial_shell_game:_why_is_a_private_desalination_plant_asking_for_public_money/

 Desalination is Here!

“It is clear that desalination has come a long way – and just in time, in order to address the “triple threat” of population growth, crumbling water utility infrastructure, and climate change.”  This article from EcoWorld raises some wacko ideas about Desalination that demands to be refuted.

For more info see:  http://www.ecoworld.com/waters/desalination-is-here.html

  

 Desalination Technology - — A nanotube membrane on a silicon chip the size of a quarter may offer a cheaper way to remove salt from water. This can change the business model of many Reverse Osmosis products and projects.

Nov. 16, 2009 “LLNL Licenses Carbon Nanotube Technology Used For Desalination To Local Company”Carbon nanotubes — special molecules made of carbon atoms in a unique arrangement -allow liquids and gases to rapidly flow through, while the tiny pore size can block larger molecules, offering a cheaper way to remove salt from water. Federal funds (Dept of Energy and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency invested ~$4.3 million to advance Porifer, Inc.’s technology commercialization. 

For more information click here

 Tampa Bay Desalination Debacle – Update

Desalination Creates More Problems than Solutions in Tampa 

By Jorge Aguilar, Food & Water Watch. Posted July 27, 2009. From Alternet ,   

  In its first major decision, Tampa Bay Water decided in 1999 to allow several private firms to build, own and operate a 25-million-gallon-per-day plant that would supply up to 15% of the area’s water needs. So far, it has been a disastrous venture.– six years later than scheduled and $40 million over budget. It has rarely run at full capacity to this day. In fact, Tampa Bay took ownership of the plant after two of the firms in charge of completing the plant went bankrupt. In March of 2009, the desalination plant, now operated by a subsidiary of the German multinational RWE, had to be shut down again after yet another malfunction.  For more information click here
 When it Comes to Water, Can Corporations and Community Really Coexist?     By Peter Asmus, AlterNet. Posted August 19, 2009.

“The latest fight between activists and companies such as Coke and Nestle is about who really “owns water” — corporations or communities.”  This in depth article examines how the battle of “bottled water” has escalated recently, and describes the role that community activisits can and should play in these critical decisions. For more information click here

Greenswashing Litmus Tests  Know how to tell the differences between a Green product or company and a Greenwashing product or company? Check out Larry’s contribution

Seven Sins of Greenwashing – the Game

Poseidon’s Financial Shell Game:
       http://www.alternet.org/water/144043/poseidon’s_financial_shell_game:_why_is_a_private_desalination_plant_asking_for_public_money/