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By Barbara Henry
North County Times
April 20, 2005
CARLSBAD — The region's main water provider and the city of Carlsbad have reached an agreement on a $230 million desalination plant proposal, officials announced Tuesday.
For the San Diego County Water Authority, the agreement means that the long-debated project has finally been nailed down as a certainty, said Ken Weinberg, director of water resources.
"We have worked through the issues that we needed to work through to have a regional water supplier in Carlsbad," he said Tuesday.
For Carlsbad, the agreement details how much water and other benefits the city will gain from the regional project, according to Jim Elliott, city administrative services director.
Carlsbad's benefits include:
A guaranteed source of water. Carlsbad will receive about 9 percent of the plant's total daily capacity.
An assurance that the city will receive a cut in the water's price if the water authority gets a special rebate from the Metropolitan Water Authority.
A $5.5 million payment to the city's redevelopment fund.
A guarantee that the plant will also pay at least $15.3 million in taxes, regardless of who owns it.
Proposed for a 4-acre site at Carlsbad's Encina Power Station along Carlsbad Boulevard, the plant would produce upward of 80 million gallons of drinking water a day from seawater. Its developer, Poseidon Resources of Connecticut, has estimated it could be operational by 2008.
The City Council is expected to vote on the newly announced agreement this morning, and the water authority's board will consider it at a meeting on April 28. Their combined approval could end years of conflict, but it's only one step in the process toward building the plant.
The water authority still must come to terms with the plant's proposed developer. Negotiations with Poseidon have stalled for months, and the company has put pressure on the water authority by pursuing a second option — building a privately owned plant that would supply coastal cities in the region.
Carlsbad's council agreed to support Poseidon's second proposal last fall, but city officials stressed at the time that they really felt Poseidon should be working with the water authority.
Under the announced agreement, the water authority must return to the bargaining table with Poseidon in the next 30 days. That's welcome news to company Vice President Peter MacLaggan.
"This is anticipated, a positive development," MacLaggan said in an interview after the county water authority's announcement during a teleconference. "We, too, look forward to getting back into discussions with the water authority."
However, he added, the company is continuing to pursue the private plant proposal. An environmental impact report on that proposal is due this week. A second environmental report, by the county water authority, is due this fall.
On Tuesday, Carlsbad officials praised the new agreement with the county water authority, saying it settles issues they have wanted resolved for a long time. The project concerns Carlsbad because it is in the center of the city's coastline area, which the city has long had in its sights as a redevelopment zone, Elliott said.
Under the agreement, the city will have some oversight in the plant's design. The city also will gain $5.5 million for nine redevelopment projects, including a beachside restroom facility, a trail project and parking improvements, he said.
Under the agreement, Carlsbad is guaranteed a portion of the plant's water, but that water will meet about 25 percent of the city's future needs, Elliott said. It also won't come cheap — it will cost an estimated $710 an acre-foot with the rebate money included — up from the $566 the city is currently paying for water.
"(However), it's important to note that all new supplies cost more than what we're paying now," Weinberg said.
For Carlsbad, a key benefit is that the city will be considered a local water supplier, meaning that in times of drought, it is guaranteed the right to the water before anyone else, Elliot said.
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