Is desalination good for Soquel Creek Water Customers?

By Don H. Heichel

Desalination is a bad deal for Soquel Creek Water because Santa Cruz Water has first call in "dry years" and that's no way to prepare for the next 6 year drought! Imagine the future, always wondering if Santa Cruz will have enough water next year. Yeah, that Santa Cruz, the one that would rather spend $40 Million on Artists than its infrastructure; they want YOUR MONEY for that expense!

Guess what desal will do to your future Soquel Creek Water bills for the next 3 and 1/2 decades? Interest on bonds often doubles the face amount payback, can you say $200 Million?

Here's the deal: Soquel Creek Water has a grant to study reclaiming water at Seascape (and water the golf course with reclaimed water, like Pasatiempo), capacity up to 500 acre feet per year.

Reclaimed water is less expensive than desal gallon for gallon and will cost less than half the 1,000 acre feet per year they've signed to take from desal.

Reclaimed water will be all ours 24/7/365 plus it will reduce pumping to 4300 acre feet per year, 400+ acre feet below their sustainable pumping definition.

No one knows how many decades recycled water will service the needs of the Water District as an abundant supplemental supply because Soquel Creek Water's published projections on water demand are way too high and the recent price increase will create more conservation.

In contrast, the desal plant will be shared with Santa Cruz Water; what will happen to desal water in a drought? Santa Cruz Water can use up to 16 million gallons of water per day in the summer and the desal plant will produce 2.5 mgd. You do the math on what's left for Soquel Creek District!

The capper? Soquel Creek Water admits 85% of our rain disappears each year and we live on the 15% that percolates to the aquifer. This explains why Soquel had no rationing through those six years of drought.

If climate change reduces our rainfall in the future there's still plenty of rain for our aquifers; future forecasts do predict heavier deluges; that's more incentive to control storm water and prevent erosion.

Vote for me; I'll work to put your interests, the Customer's perspective, in charge of Soquel Creek Water!