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<br />D00297 <br /> <br />Cost Of Operatinl! And Maintaininl! The Yuma Desaltinl! Plant <br /> <br />The YDP was designed and constructed in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The facility <br />operated for about six months in 1992, but was taken out of operation because of flood <br />flow conditions on the Gila River. At the current time, the YDP is being maintained in a <br />state ofreadiness at an annual cost of about $5.1 million (including research costs <br />~sociated with improving YDP operations). . , <br /> <br />At full operation, the YDP would produce between 75,400 acre-feet and 60,700 acre-feet <br />per year of product water having a salinity of 300 mg/l. That product water could then be <br />blended with about 10,000 acre-feet per year of untreated agricultural drainage water, <br />depending upon river salinity conditions. The combination would return between 85,400 <br />acre-feet and 70,700 acre-feet to the Colorado River above the Northerly International <br />Boundary for delivery to Mexico as a part of its Treaty delivery entitlement. <br /> <br />Jnlalysis founi:tl:h5.t~e range of current estimates of the cost per acre-foot of starting up <br />and of operating the YDP at full capacity was achieved using the assumptions as described <br />in Table 1. Ai-a]~{) ~~ T~ 1, operations at two thirds capacity would be <br />approximately t,,%, greater per acre:- foot than ~hg'N,R Tftble 1, while operations at one third <br />capacity wbuld'h~-approximately 42% greater per acre foot than sl).own on Table 1. <br />'. .t41.J{e4fl1t;j~ ~ <br />Startup costs were annualized over 5 and 10 years. These two time frame assumptions <br />were chosen to account for the variations in water cycles, recognizing that operation would <br />not be required in cycles when reservoirs are relatively full. These relatively short cycles <br />also allow for risk from future modifications, as is remains unclear, should the remaining <br />two thirds of the plant be operated, whether design corrections will be required on an on- <br />going basis. <br /> <br />With average costs (assuming full capacity operation) ranging between $26.1 million and <br />$33.9 million per year and production (including blending) ranging between 85,400 acre- <br />feet and 70,700 acre-feet of water per year, the cost of water recovered by the YDP is <br />estimated to be between $305 and $480 per acre-foot. In developing the above cost <br />estimates Reclamation assumed that state of the art high efficiency membranes would be <br />utilized. The estimates also take into account whether future technology improvements, <br />such as use oflow-pressure membranes, might reduce these costs. While we are currently <br />studying such options, we de not project significant savings from these new technologies, <br />since more than 60% ofthe projected annual costs are for pre-treatment of the high <br />suspended solids levels of the water coming from the bypass. <br /> <br />~L <br />iJV;~~~ <br />fr!l', II" <br />(1/ <br /> <br />} <br />~V <br />~ J. <br />"i f;? <br /> <br />'fe <br />tllOV1 <br />fl~P~/ <br />17 V:I tV <br />of <br /> <br />15 <br />