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One good, one bad project
STORY TOOLS 
More from OpinionRe: your April 26 articles, "Capps in midst of unexpected fight" and "Oxnard may get facility it rejected":
These two articles are about two very different projects that will have a big effect on the quality of life in the Oxnard area. One is a very positive water project and the other is a very negative industrial power plant project.
The city of Oxnard is constructing the Groundwater Recovery Enhancement and Treatment project, which includes a brackish water treatment facility and an advanced water purification facility.
The GREAT program is about responsible use and reuse of water. It will help protect the Oxnard area from huge increases in water rates during drought conditions by treating and storing water underground. It will also treat wastewater to such an advanced level of purity that it can be safely used on agricultural crops and to irrigate parks and landscaping throughout the area.
This means that the GREAT program can help maintain agricultural land in the coastal areas of the Oxnard Plain. This recycled water can be used to irrigate crops rather than using well water, which causes seawater intrusion. This also means that our parks can have real grass for our children and adults to run and play on. It is important that we tell our elected officials that we support the GREAT program.
The negative project is the Southern California Edison peaker generating plant proposed for Mandalay Beach next to the Reliant power plant in Oxnard. New power-generating plants do not need to be located on the precious and environmentally rich coast. The new plants are not coastal dependent because they no longer need seawater for cooling.
The California Coastal Commission will vote on Edison's peaker project at its next meeting May 8, beginning at 8 a.m. in Marina del Rey. Residents can speak at the meeting or write or e-mail the commission. Letters must be received before Monday.
For more information see http://www.coastal.ca.gov or call the Coastal Commission office in Ventura at 585-1800.
— Shirley Godwin lives in Oxnard.
Posted by lthrnek on April 30, 2008 at 8:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sea water intrusion is a natural phenomenom that occurs at coastlines all over the world. If you had a high school biology class you might remember the demonstration of osmosis where colored and clear water in two long glass tubes were separated by a semi-permeable membrane at the bottom. Over time, the color would permeate through the membrane until both sides were equally colored. The different specific gravities of Salt and Fresh water coupled with atmospheric pressure is the cause. Water wells dug near the coast suffer from the same type infiltration eventually making the well water brackish. Similar things can happen inland if you dig a well too close to a sewer septic tank.
It all sounds pretty simple but it is really very complex and there are many exceptions to the rule. For example, Mustang Island, off the coast of Corpus Christi, Texas is along sliver of land surrounded on all sides by ocean and bay salt water but the acquifier on the island, just a few feet below the surface will yield pure fresh water almost every time.
The potable water problems in our country should be approached on a national level very soon or once the "Oil Wars" are over, there will undoubtedly be "Water Wars." We see people squabbling over water from the Colorado River or the Sacramento Delta while thousands of our rivers and streams flow freely each day into the ocean. If we could capture that wasted water and send it to where it is needed, our future would be much brighter.
Posted by jeff93024 on April 30, 2008 at 9:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The rarely mentioned downside of capturing all fresh water before it hits the ocean is increased oceanic salinity, and increased oceanic salinity, especially along the coastal areas which are the nurseries for much of the life in the sea, could be devastating in ways we have not yet dreamed of. At the very least, capturing all runoff means that there will eventually be no beaches and deltas. The slow release of water from treatment plants will never match the natural flow of rivers, and will never flush the sediments the way normal runoff does.
Based on the magnitude of the changes we are now capable of making, we've gotten to the point where just about any major change we make to the balance of any of the systems that support life is going to have some kind of detrimental effect on us, either immediately or down the road. The problem in many areas is not that we don't have enough water, but that we don't use it wisely. Another problem, and one that is likely to get worse, is that we are reproducing at such a rate that we can't keep up with our own needs, in spite of the fact that the planet is a very big place and there would appear to be resources enough for all of us. We are using many of our resources faster than they can naturally replenish themselves, and in our determination to use technology to wring even more out of a slow and ancient but perfect system, we are causing damage that our generations will not likely live to see regain equilibrium once again.
If there will be water wars in the near future, the wars will be as much about power, money and greed as much as anything else.
Posted by jeff93024 on April 30, 2008 at 10:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Then there will never be a shortage of wars, mmshoot.
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