Our view: North County's water future in Coastal Commission's hands

The history of the American West is also the history of our engineering ability to divert water from remote to more populated areas. Last week's abrupt shutdown of the pumps in Northern California's Bay Delta, one of the two main sources of San Diego County's water, has given extra impetus to North County's attempt to develop local sources of drinking water - even if that source is the salty sea.

Since 2000, Poseidon Resources Inc. has been working with local agencies, primarily the city of Carlsbad, to build a desalination plant next to the Encina power plant. That site's main selling point is the seawater the power plant already sucks in to cool its electricity-producing turbines. Poseidon's plan is to siphon off a portion and then force the seawater through filters that remove the salt and make it potable.

That cooling process kills off some sea life, so it requires a special permit. Poseidon is hoping to piggy-back on Encina's existing permit in its quest to supply North County with 50 million gallons of fresh water a day.

Although Poseidon's plans have suffered some setbacks, notably including the county water authority's decision not to participate in the project, it has found a market. About 65 percent of the plant's projected water output has already been slurped up in purchase agreements with buyers, including the Carlsbad, Valley Center, Sweetwater and Rincon water districts. Negotiations are under way with the Vallecitos, Olivenhain, Santa Fe and Rainbow water districts. General Electric, which would supply the plant with a high-tech membrane to filter the seawater, also recently announced plans to invest in the $300 million plant, provided it gets a permit.

The argument in favor of desalination gets stronger with each passing day. Although this time the Bay Delta pump shut-off was temporary, pending lawsuits could make such stoppages more frequent. Water officials say that this situation has added a whole new layer of complexity to an already serious water-shortage problem.

But that's not the only issue. The snowpack in the Sierra Nevadas, which melts into the Bay Delta system, reached historic lows this year. Compounding our water woes, California has seen its share of Colorado River water decreased, and the region is experiencing a drought . Although they haven't yet declared this a formal drought, country water officials are encouraging individuals and businesses to do everything they can to conserve water.

It is against this gloomy backdrop that Poseidon submitted the fourth version of its permit application to the California Coastal Commission on Friday. The Coastal Commission is moving at its customary glacial pace, asking questions like whether it wouldn't make more sense for the desalination plant to move five miles farther from the sea, or whether a new source of water would encourage growth in coastal North County. Memo to Sacramento: We have already experienced a spot of growth; the issue now is whether we'll be able to sustain ourselves in the coastal desert.

Desalination alone won't solve the region's water problems, but it will help us tap an additional, local water source with no prospects for drying up: the Pacific Ocean. The Coastal Commission is on the clock, and we're getting thirsty waiting for its decision.