Subject

 Why should the public have the right to vote about desalination?
Because the public will have to pay for desalination and its negative consequences, the public should get to vote. From the growth it will induce to the contamination of our drinking water, desalination will have a major impact on Marin County. In addition, the Marin public has been able to vote on major water supply projects such as the Russian River pipeline and Alpine Reservoir. Desalination is no different, and in many ways, much worse.

Don’t we need more water?
Marin has a very reliable supply of water. In the last 15-20 years, we have actually decreased our water use despite population growth. Fortunately, we have many opportunities to make our water use more efficient and reduce consumption. Some of these opportunities include efficient outdoor irrigation systems, water-saving toilets and washing machines, grey water, and rain catchment systems.

The MMWD Board members are exaggerating the need for water in order to justify desalination. The general manager now admits that we are NOT in a drought.

What about Climate Change? Won’t it bring more droughts?
Climate Change does not create uniformly dry weather and Marin’s weather will vary from other parts of California such as the Sierras. A recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change Report (Section 11, page 890, December, 2008) predicts that the North Coast, including Marin County, may have winters that average 5% wetter than in the past. 

If a drought were to occur, like the one of 1976-77, Marin would implement a rationing policy that would ensure a reliable supply of water.  In addition, Marin now has significantly greater sources of water than it did then.

 I read that the Desal plant costs $105 million-why do you say it will cost $400 million?
The $105-$150 million construction cost of the desalination plant will be paid for with bonds that will require repayment with interest.  Once you add the annual operating costs of the desalination plant, the plant will cost ratepayers $400 million over a 30-year period.  MMWD is only using the construction cost, which itself is a low estimate.

 I read that the Desal plant will be powered by Clean Energy/Marin Energy Authority-isn’t that a good thing?

1. MMWD is now the largest user of electricity in Marin County. If Marin gets clean energy it should be used to power existing operations, not wasted on an unnecessary desalination plant, which would double the District’s energy use.
2. The massive additional amount of electricity that would be needed for a desal plant would, if it came from clean energy, gobble up available clean power, thereby raising the costs of such clean power for Marin residents. 

What long-term impacts will desalination have on our oceans?

• Desalination plants kill many small marine organisms. This occurs in two ways:
  1. Impingement: Causing injury or death to marine organisms by pulling them into an intake system where they cannot escape and are eventually left trapped against a fish screen (4).
  2. Entrainment: Causing injury or death to small marine organisms such as plankton, larvae, and fish eggs, that are too small to be screened out and are pulled through the screens into the processing system (4).
•  Discharged brine water contains double the amount of salt of normal ocean water. Marine life living in the area surrounding a plant will not be able to survive in water with such high salinity levels.
•  Discharged brine water has a 5 ° F higher temperature, a higher turbidity level, and a lower oxygen level than the ocean water it is being released into which could affect local marine life.
• A large amount of energy is required to operate a desalination plant leading to a greater dependence on fossil fuels while increasing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere
• Construction of desalination plants impact seafloor sand dunes and ecology, cause erosion, and disturb both seabirds and marine mammals.
•  Some of the chemicals used in the desalination process could be released into the ocean, harming local marine life, if not properly filtered out of the discharge water before its release. Some of these chemicals are: sulfur dioxide, ferric chloride, carbon dioxide, sodium bisulfite, hydrochloric acid, citric acid, copper sulfate, and acrolein.
•  The construction of desalination plants could induce growth along the California Coast, potentially causing, “the degradation of coastal resources beyond sustainable levels”