Comments on: Peter Gleick: Giving Desalination Another Black Eye — Poseidon’s Financial Shell Game http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2009/world/peter-gleick-giving-desalination-another-black-eye-poseidons-financial-shell-game/ Reporting the Global Water Crisis Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:58:05 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Debra Coy http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2009/world/peter-gleick-giving-desalination-another-black-eye-poseidons-financial-shell-game/comment-page-1/#comment-7252 Debra Coy Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:16:59 +0000 http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/?p=8635#comment-7252 C'mon, Peter - this is unfair. Why indict the private sector for the public sector's failure to encourage conservation and water reuse? The public sector is responsible for properly pricing the water it supplies, and the apathy about conservation is because water is so under-priced in California, thanks to decades of federal subsidies, as you know. Poseidon and its investors wouldn't have gotten involved in the Carlsbad project if Met and the San Diego County water districts had the political will - and access to financing - to do it themselves. After all the years and money invested, I very much doubt that Poseidon's financial returns on this venture will be egregious; they will be lucky if they earn any return at all. Met's decision to subsidize desalination projects was a public policy decision to try to diversify water supplies, one which hasn't been terribly effective to date. Their decision to significantly raise wholesale water rates has been more effective - conservation is taking hold as ratepayers who live in the desert are finally beginning to get proper pricing signals for imported water. I am quite surprised that you are still stooping to focus the debate on Poseidon executives' salaries - that's empty populism without policy substance. Debra Coy Water Sector Research Analyst C’mon, Peter – this is unfair. Why indict the private sector for the public sector’s failure to encourage conservation and water reuse? The public sector is responsible for properly pricing the water it supplies, and the apathy about conservation is because water is so under-priced in California, thanks to decades of federal subsidies, as you know. Poseidon and its investors wouldn’t have gotten involved in the Carlsbad project if Met and the San Diego County water districts had the political will – and access to financing – to do it themselves. After all the years and money invested, I very much doubt that Poseidon’s financial returns on this venture will be egregious; they will be lucky if they earn any return at all. Met’s decision to subsidize desalination projects was a public policy decision to try to diversify water supplies, one which hasn’t been terribly effective to date. Their decision to significantly raise wholesale water rates has been more effective – conservation is taking hold as ratepayers who live in the desert are finally beginning to get proper pricing signals for imported water. I am quite surprised that you are still stooping to focus the debate on Poseidon executives’ salaries – that’s empty populism without policy substance.

Debra Coy
Water Sector Research Analyst

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