Comparing apples to oranges

In reply to Steven Evanko (Village News, 9/1/05) the modern trend for potable water in San Diego County is desalination and never in a million years will the cost of desalinated potable water in San Diego County approach $1,000 an acre foot as claimed by Mr. Evanko. There is a huge ocean out there filled to the very top with water. I stated specifically in my 8/18/05 article that the 2005 cost to FPUD for untreated water is $412 per acre foot and the cost of the Santa Margarita Project untreated water will be at least $507.81 an acre foot. Mr. Evanko compared apples to oranges by talking about the cost of treated water, which is more expensive than untreated water because it undergoes several purification treatment processes. The reclaimed water from Camp Pendleton through the Naval Weapons Center. Mr. Evanko suggests that earthquakes could permanently damage water pipelines along I-15 but not damage the above Camp Pendleton pipeline. Get real. FPUD also has a huge Red Mountain water reservoir available for use during pipeline repair.

The Temecula Press Enterprise on 1/8/05 printed a press release by the project manager of the Temecula Bureau of Reclamation which accurately defined their specific $100 million project. Their goals are to increase the yield of available untreated drinking water from the Santa Margarita River from 9,600 to 16,000 acre feet by using a “collapsible dam” constructed in Camp Pendleton. The Village News was provided with a copy of this press release.

The Congressional House Resolution, HR 125 is FPUD’s funding document for their portion of the Santa Margarita River Project. It clearly states that FPUD’s share of this “project” water is 40% or 2560 acre feet and Camp Pendleton’s share will be 60%. In addition, HR 125 specifically defines the interest FPUD must pay on the $60 million project loan which is the “rate equal to the average interest rate on long term loans of the U.S. on the date of the Act” and this is not a low interest loan. Readers can obtain a copy of HR 125 via the Internet at htt://thomas.loc.gov/.

I determined last year that it was useless to go to the FPUD meetings because, during the times I attended regularly, unfavorable public input or criticism at the meetings were never printed in the minutes of the meeting. The public was never allowed to present an agenda item without GM Lewinger’s pre-approval. I do not recall meeting Mr. Evanko and if Steven Evanko noted my absence from FPUD’s general meetings he must have obtained that information from FPUD. I never realized FPUD misses me so much.

I worked for the federal government for 15 years as a Senior Project Engineer and I sometimes managed 4 or 5 different projects at one time. I could never use money from one project to fund another project, which was low in funding without the real threat of dismissal. Intermingling of federal project money was, and is today, a serious federal offence. The Temecula Bureau of Reclamation gets its project money via the Federal Budget process and the money for FPUD’s Santa Margarita Project will be obtained via U S Congressional House Resolution, HR 125 when approved by congress. Money for these separate federal projects cannot, by law, be intermingled.

Do FPUD’s ratepayers really want to burden their children and grandchildren with such an enormous, HR 125, debt ($60 million plus interest for 56 years, or approximately $1.3 million a year)? Mr. Evanko deliberately avoided the question of whether the ratepayers should be allowed to vote on this huge debt. Sixteen years after approval by the House of Representatives, the FPUD General Manager and the existing Board of Directors may not be in Fallbrook. However, the ratepayers will still be paying for this project for an additional 40 years. The truth is the truth and 56 years is a lifetime for some, so please don’t disrespect the messenger because you don’t like the message.