Yuma Desalting Plant draws global visitors

Since the "on" switch was flipped for a 90-day demonstration run of the Yuma Desalting Plant, a number of visitors have shown up at the doorstep wanting a tour.

They've come from around the nation and around the world, said U.S. Bureau of Reclamation public relations official Jack Simes, who has been kept busy as a tour guide of the 60-acre facility west of Yuma.

The latest was the Colorado River Citizens' Forum, which serves as a link between the public and the International Boundary and Water Commission.

After hearing a presentation about the desalting plant during a meeting Tuesday afternoon, several members of the forum wanted to see the facility for themselves.

The desalting plant, once the largest in the world and still the largest in the U.S., was built at a cost of $250 million in the 1980s and early 1990s, said Jim Cherry, head of the Yuma-area USBR office. It was meant to reduce salt in water the U.S. delivers to Mexico under a 1944 treaty.

The plant only ran for about nine months, then was shut after the 1993 Gila River flood. Since then, it has been mothballed at a cost of $6 million a year because the treated water wasn't needed, Cherry said.

But there's been pressure to start up the plant as drought continues to grip the Southwest while population growth is increasing demand for water.

After 1-1/2 decades on standby, however, there were questions about whether the plant could still function and at what cost, Cherry said. The demonstration of 10 percent of the plant's capacity, begun March 1 and running until May 31, is proving it can - more efficiently and cheaper than projected with improved technology that has been incorporated into the plant over the years.

It's also drawn considerable interest. International visitors since March 1 have included delegations from Egypt, Libya, Mexico's Institute of Water Technology and the city of Hermosillo, Mexico. A group from Korea are next on the guest list, Simes said.

Closer to home, visitors have come from Yuma County Water Users Association, Yuma Mesa Irrigation District, city of Phoenix, Arizona House of Representatives, Water Education Foundation and Metropolitan Water District. They've been part of Arizona Western College's Advanced Water Treatment Program, Northern Arizona University Department of Geography and the University of Arizona.

The plant has also drawn media attention from the New York Times, Arizona Republic and National Public Radio, which labeled its report "Boondoggle to Boom," referring to the desalting plant's reputation as a waste of considerable taxpayer money.

Just this week, Jean Simon Gagne, a journalist with a major newspaper in Quebec, visited as part of the International Leadership Program sponsored by the U.S. State Department. He said he chose water as the focus of his trip because of his interest in the Middle East, where water is a major concern.

At the end of the demonstration, Cherry said he expects the trial run will have returned 1 billion gallons of water to the Colorado River. That's water that won't have to be drawn from Lake Mead, which as of Tuesday morning was at 48 percent, he said.

At this time, there are no plans to continue to operate the plant, nor is there funding to do so, he said.

"The plant has run well," he said. "The challenge now is how the plant fits into the water supply picture for the lower Colorado River."