City Hall ● 910 Calle Negocio, San Clemente CA 92673 ● (949) 361-8200 ● www.san-clemente.org
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
AND CITY COUNCIL
Gene James
Mayor
Chris Duncan
Mayor Pro Tem
Laura Ferguson
Steve Knoblock
Kathy Ward
INTERIM CITY MANAGER
Sean Joyce
910 Calle Negocio
San Clemente, CA 92673
Phone: (949) 361-8200
“The Spanish Village
by the Sea”
October 4, 2022
Donne Brownsey
Chair
California Coastal Commission
455 Market Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94105
[email protected]
Dear Chair Brownsey:
On behalf of City of San Clemente, I am pleased to convey and share with your Commission our support for the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project.
This technologically unique and environmentally sensitive ocean water desalination project will enhance water reliability for South Coast Water District (SCWD) and the region.
SCWD has worked collaboratively for more than eight years with stakeholders and officials with local cities, other special districts, nonprofit organizations, tribal nations, and others in Orange County and regionally in furtherance of this Project. SCWD has also worked diligently at the State and Federal levels to secure more than $32 million in critical grant funding for the Project to date.
This Project will enable SCWD and local agencies to further diversify its water supply portfolio and reduce its dependence on imported water from the severely stressed Colorado River and State Water Project, especially during times of historic drought conditions which will become more frequent as climate change evolves. The Project is particularly important to south Orange County, which is roughly 90% dependent on these imported water supplies.
In addition to the water supply benefits, we support this Project because it complies with the California Ocean Plan and protects the marine environment by implementing the preferred intake and discharge technologies, i.e., using a subsurface ocean water intake system to draw water passively through the ocean floor and comingling the “post-desalination” brine back with treated wastewater for disposal through an existing outfall.
The serious implications of drought restrictions on our local communities, especially when combined with the region’s overwhelming reliance on imported water, justifiably inspire SCWD and its neighboring agencies to be innovative in their ongoing mission to achieve a diverse and reliable portfolio of water projects and management strategies. The Project has the potential to be a local and regional asset, reducing south Orange County’s reliance on imported water and ensuring supply reliability in the event of a natural disaster or CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF INCORPORATION
Attachment
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Kathleen Ward
Mayor, City of San Clemente
other major emergency.
Thank you for your consideration and for your ongoing commitment to and efforts on behalf of our residents, businesses, and the region’s resources.
Sincerely,
Gene James
Mayor
City of San Clemente