FINAL REPORT Evaluation of Seawater Desalination Projects ...

EVALUATION OF SEAWATER DESALINATION PROJECTS
PROPOSED FOR THE MONTEREY PENINSULA
Response to California American Water Letter, Dated
August 30, 2006
Response to Comment 1 – The ASR components have been included in the total cost of the
CAW CWP. These costs are reflected in the cost summary tables.
Response to Comment 2 – The expected seasonal demands to be met by the MBRSDP were
not included in the material provided by Poseidon Resources/PSM; however, the identified
annual demand was provided (20,930 ac-ft per year). Poseidon Resources/PSM also stated
that MBRSDP would enable the Monterey Peninsula area to comply with SWRCB Order No.
95-10. The identified annual production of 22,400 ac-ft per year for the MBRSDP is
reasonable production for a desalination plant with a planned capacity of 20 mgd. Given the
information provided by Poseidon Resources, the planned annual yield of the MBRSDP will
be 20,930 ac-ft per year and no information has been provided to suggest otherwise.
However, the annual yield determination can be modified if additional information is made
available.
Response to Comment 3a – The comment states that CAW buying water from the MBRSDP
would cost $1,800 per acre-foot as opposed to $1,352 per acre-foot. Information regarding
the wholesale pricing of the MBRSDP desalinated water was not provided, and, as such,
$1,800 per acre-foot cannot be proved or disproved.
Response to Comment 3b – The comments states that the annualized cost of the entire CWP
is $20M. This calculation could not be verified and we have calculated the annualized cost
of the CWP, with ASR, as $23M, with a unit cost of $1,980 per acre-foot. Without ASR, the
annualized cost is $20M, with a unit cost of $1,944 per acre-foot.
Response to Comment 4 – The final report includes the ASR component of the CWP.
Response to Comment 5 – To our knowledge, we were provided the best available, most
comprehensive cost estimates of the MBRSDP and SCDP. As acknowledged in the report,
the level of detail of the cost estimates was not uniform. Significant effort was expended to
obtain the project costs and it was determined that the costs were reasonable for the different
projects. Based on this, it was determined that a comparison between the projects is
reasonable. As for the MBRSDP cost estimate, it is stated in the text that cost for water
transmission and storage is $31M. The extent that Poseidon Resources/PSM has or has not
included all of the costs associated with (1) getting their product water to their customers,
and (2) building and operating the necessary water storage facilities cannot be determined,
but it is assumed that all of the costs are included.
Response to Comment 6 – None of the information provided to the B-E team supports the
position that MBRSDP could not meet the requirements of SWRCB Order No. 95-10.
Response to Comment 7 – Comment noted.
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District A-3