Cambria desalination testing delayed

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• Cambria desalination plan dealt a blow

  Cambria desalination plan dealt a blow

  An Army Corps of Engineers’ project to test the soil and sample water near the mouth of Santa Rosa Creek is not consistent with the state’s rules and goals for the habitat and coastline there, the California Coastal Commission ruled during a hearing Dec. 9.

  Whether that unanimous decision will be a death knell for the proposed tests there — and ultimately for intake and outfall facilities for a Cambria Community Services District desalination plant — is yet to be determined.

  Such a plant would be located elsewhere, off the beach.

• Public input wanted on scope of water study

  Public input wanted on scope of water study

  UPDATE: This story has been updated to correct the time of the meeting. It begins at 7 p.m., not 5:30 p.m.

  Is a desalination plant still in Cambria’s future, or is the town’s ultimate water project something else entirely, or perhaps a blend of several options?

  People attending the Army Corps of Engineers and Cambria Community Services District’s public scoping meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 15, can expect more questions than answers about plans for a new, additional source of water for the town.

• Support for desalination may be evaporating

  Support for desalination may be evaporating

  Is a desalination plant still in Cambria’s future? Will the town’s ultimate water project be something else entirely? Or a blend of several options?

  There will be more questions asked than answers given about a supplemental source of water for the town at a meeting Thursday, more than 10 years after Cambria Community Services District directors declared a water emergency and put a nearly complete stop to new water hookups.

  The district and Army Corps of Engineers will host what’s known as a scoping meeting, one of the early steps in preparing a formal environmental review.

• Water supply study meeting tonight

  Water supply study meeting tonight

  P eople interested in Cambria’s water-supply future will attend a special public meeting at 7 p.m. today, March 15, at the Veterans Memorial Building, 1000 Main St.

  The Army Corps of Engineers Corps and Cambria Community Services District officials say they want to hear from the public about environmental and other impacts of the district’s planned desalination project and various other water sources that might be viable options to fill any watery void between what the community has and what it needs to fill future needs.

  The district’s focus on desalination may be changing, given recent rejections by the California Coastal Commission of separate projects, one near the mouth of San Simeon Creek and the other near the mouth of Santa Rosa Creek, where the district had proposed testing to see if the locations would work for intake and other infrastructure.

• Re-reviewing water options

  Re-reviewing water options

  It wasn’t so much what the Army Corps of Engineers did and said at a special March 15 “scoping” meeting that had people talking afterwards. It was what people still wanted to know about Cambria’s supplemental water project.

  The Army Corps (ACE) and the Cambria Community Services District cohosted the two-hour session about how the two agencies are preparing a combined environmental report on “providing a reliable water source for the community.” About 100 people, including presenters, attended.

  While desalination of seawater has been the leading alternative for at least 10 years, the emphasis has shifted since December’s decision by the state Coastal Commission to deny the district’s request for testing at the mouth of Santa Rosa Creek. CCSD and ACE discussions now include a consideration of a full palette of options, including desalination, piping in water, drilling deeper and reservoirs. Another alternative, recycling, is not mentioned in the Corps Notice of Preparation for environmental documents