COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

 

4.

PRESENTATION ON MPWMD LONG-TERM WATER SUPPLY PROJECT/ DESALINATION IN SAND CITY FROM MONTEREY PENINSULA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

 

Meeting Date:
April 23, 2007

Budgeted: 

N/A

 

From:

David A. Berger,

Program/

N/A

 

General Manager

Line Item No.:

 

Prepared By:

Andrew Bell,

Cost Estimate:

N/A

 

District Engineer

 

 

 

General Counsel Approval:  N/A

Committee Recommendation:  N/A

CEQA Compliance:  N/A

 

SUMMARY:   District Engineer Andy Bell will give a presentation on the seawater desalination project in Sand City that was evaluated by the District during the period 2000 through early 2004.  Basic information on the project is included in the MPWMD Comparative Matrix of water supply alternatives dated October 16, 2006.  This matrix was distributed to Community Advisory Committee (Committee) members at the February 6, 2006 Committee meeting.  Mr. Bell will address questions orally following his presentation.  Questions on the project submitted in advance of the meeting by Committee member Greg Pickens are shown in Exhibit 4-A.

 

RECOMMENDATION:   This item is a presentation only.  The Community Advisory Committee members should express their initial opinions on the merits and drawbacks of this project as part of Item 5, “Committee Comments on the Long-Term Water Supply Project/Desalination in Sand City.”

 

BACKGROUND:   Summary information regarding the Regional Urban Water Augmentation Project is located in column D of Part I-A of the Matrix, pages 171 through 177 of the packet for the October 16, 2006  MPWMD Board meeting.  Item 13 from that packet, pages 159 through 205, was distributed at the February 6, 2006 Committee meeting. 

 

Project Layout

 

General project location, and some features of the potential seawater intake and brine discharge facilities, may be seen in five figures attached as Exhibit 4-B.  These figures are from the April 16, 2004 report by Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. titled “Sand City Desalination Project Feasibility Study.”

 

Project Description

 

Following is the summary description of the project from the October 16, 2006 staff report:

Long-Term Water Supply Project/Desalination in Sand City (Sponsor: MPWMD – Exhibit 13-A, Column D)  

 

The MPWMD Water Supply Project (WSP) is comprised of a seawater desalination plant in the Sand City area with new seawater intake/brine discharge facilities at Seaside State Beach, Sand City and/or former Fort Ord.  The project design envisioned HDD wells for intake/discharge, but the geology of the former Fort Ord coastal area requires use of the existing MRWPCA outfall for large volumes of brine discharge.  The basic yield goal set in 2003 is 8,400 AFY to legalize existing community demand.  Specifically, the project goal is to meet local, near-term needs, including compliance with Order 95-10, assuming Cal-Am diversions from the Carmel River do not exceed 11,285 AFY and total Cal-Am production remains under 15,285 AFY.  Production up to 11,000 AFY may be possible, depending on the outcome of hydrogeologic and engineering investigations that must first be performed. 

 

An administrative “Board Review Draft EIR” for the MPWMD Water Supply Project was received at the December 15, 2003 meeting.  To date, it has not been authorized to be refined to a formal Draft EIR to be circulated to the public pursuant to CEQA.  The MPWMD Board continues to place this project “on hold” pending evaluation of regional projects. 

 

New and Changed Information in 2006:  There has been no Board action to pursue the WSP since it was tabled in October 2004.  District efforts have focused on ASR and participation in interagency discussions about governance structure for regional water supply projects. However, the WSP was one of the three desalination projects subject to independent consultant review in June 2006.  The MPWMD consultants determined that the estimated capital costs, including the 25% contingency amount, are reasonable.  The MPWMD consultants determined that the estimated energy use should be reduced by 33% due to the higher energy efficiency of currently-available reverse osmosis equipment.  This would reduce annual O&M costs by about $2 million per year.

 

Project Costs

 

Estimated project costs, as presented in the June 6, 2006 report by Bookman-Edmonston/GEI Consultants titled “Seawater Desalination Projects Evaluation,” are summarized as follows:

 

Estimated Costs (in December 2002 dollars)

 

Capital Cost                                                     $176,200,000 - $193,000,000

Annualized Capital Cost 1                                 $  14,200,000 - $  15,600,000

Operation and Maintenance Costs                    $    6,740,000 - $    7,090,000 per year

Total Annual Cost                                             $  20,940,000 - $  22,690,000 per year

Cost per Acre-Foot                                          $2,400 - $2,700 per acre-foot (based on a project design capacity of  8,400 acre-feet per year)                     

 

 

 

 

EXHIBITS

4-A   Questions submitted by Community Advisory Committee Member Greg Pickens

 

4-B   Figures from April 16, 2004 report by Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. titled “Sand City Desalination Project Feasibility Study.”

Figure 1 – Site Location Map

Figure 2 – Seawater Collection System – HDD Well Siting Areas & Pipeline Alignments

Figure 3 – Seawater Collection System – Radial Well Siting Areas & Pipeline Alignments

Figure 4 – Conceptual Cross-Section for an HDD Well

Figure 5 – Plan View Conceptual Layout for HDD Wells for up to 15 MGD Feedwater

Figure 6 – Radial Collector Well Conceptual Layout

Figure 7 – HDD Well Brine Disposal System - Siting Areas & Pipeline Alignments

 

 

 

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