A Local Advocate Cries for Desalination while Municipalities Nationwide Grapple with the Expense and Waste

A vocal individual has recently taken to the social media platform Nextdoor and made it a mission to attack the mayor,  city commissioners and block anyone that attempts to reason with them concerning a debate on desalination. The individual believes he has all the answers and that new pipes, repairs to infrastructure and a longterm plan for water sustainability should be ignored and the desalination plant should be operational at full scale. What this individual fails to recognize is desalination plants around the nation are struggling with the huge energy expenditure to operate them and grappling with what to do with the excess toxic waste produced by such systems. 

While we support the idea of desalination processes we also believe the city must have a comprehensive plan in place to operate the local plant in a manner that is cost effective, does not waste excess energy and establishes a plan for waste removal. The plant as initially conceived, was designed to supplement, the water supply,  not to be the end all of the water supply system. 

Consider pitfalls elsewhere that Alamogordo leaderrship is considering...

Cost: costs run 3 and 4 times more to desalinate then to pull from fresh water resources of streams, wells, lakes such a Bonito Lake Reservoir. SAWS’ desalination process near San Antonio Texas as an example costs up to $1,850 for an acre-foot of drinkable water, which is nearly three times what it costs to provide that amount from the Edwards Aquifer, Express-News reporter Liz Teitz described.

Environmental Concerns:  Inner Harbor Water Treatment Campus in Corpus Christi, Texas faces delicate challenges. As a panel of experts, which examined brine discharge for California in 2013 amid then-growing interest in such projects, concluded: “Poorly implemented disposal schemes with low initial dilution in poorly flushed areas can cause widespread alterations” and be damaging to the environment.

The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant north of San Diego has been a source of environmental angst since it began operating in 2015.

Another pitfall, recent study shows that continued pumping of groundwater is a contributing factor to the subsidence, or sinking, of buildings observed in major cities, including San Antonio and other Texas urban areas.

So it behooves governments to lean into developing technology to desalinate water in a more energy-efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Salty water, which accounts for over 97% of Earth’s supply, offers a more sustainable future but only after and  once we’re committed to solving the problems of expense and environmental concerns hindering its potential

Alamogordo City government taking a slow approach to understanding how desalination fits into the overall water plan and working through the development of affordable energy efficiency to optimize taxpayer dollars is essential. Understanding the environmental impact and having an affordable waste disposal plan in place is a necessity to ensure limited negative environmental damage.  Desalination is a component of Alamogordo's water management strategy for the future, but the public must understand it is not the first and number one priority to a comprehensive sustainable water plan, but a piece of the overall puzzle to sustainability. 

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