Yuma Desalting Plant gets new test of mission

The on again, off again saga of Yuma Desalting Plant is on again - at least for a 365 days.

That is the amount of time given for a pilot run beginning in May to determine the reliability of the plant in accomplishing a mission that was conceived for it back in the 1970's. It was intended that the plant would desalinate local irrigation water so it could be delivered to Mexico as part of treaty obligations for Colorado River water.

But it has not done that since it was completed in 1992, except for an initial limited test basis and in a three month low capacity pilot project in 2007 to determine the practicality of operating the plant. Now the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the facility, has decided it is time to put it to one-third capacity test for an extended time.

The motivating factors are apparently the continuing drought in the Southwest and increased population which have put more demand on the river's limited water supply. Recovering irrigation water to supply Mexico could be an attractive way to supplement the river's water.

The big problem - the one that has plagued the plant since its inception - is the cost of desalinating the irrigation water. The USBR acknowledges it would not even be doing the full scale pilot project if it were not for the willingness of three state water agencies to provide a significant chuck of money for the effort.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Central Arizona Project will toss in $14 million of the $23.2 million cost of running the plant for three months.

In return for the money they provide, they will get "credit" to their Colorado River water allocations to offset the water recovered from irrigation water.

After the test run, the plant will apparently again be mothballed and returned to the uncertain future it has long faced, since Bureau of Reclamation officials say they have no current plans to continue operation.

Who knows, maybe a time will come when the need for water will become so great that the costly desalination process will be worthwhile but no one seems to be convinced that is the case yet.

Could the pilot project change some minds? We will see.