Figure 66. Proposed Bolsa Island nuclear power and desalting plant near Los Angeles, once 
scheduled for completion in the 1960's, would have been rated at 150 million gallons per day. 
(Office of Saline Water photo) 
100mgd 
WATER COST—CENTS PER 1,000 GALLON 
| 1000mad 
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 
Figure 67. Projection of sea water desalting 
costs for a range of plant sizes. 
is a long way from being applicable economically 
for irrigation. However, Mr. Di Luzio pointed 
out:°° 
If you mean the cost of the present irrigation 
water, Senator, the answer of course is, ““Yes.”’ If 
you would expand that statement to include 
5 senate Hearings, March 1967, op. cit., p. 11. 
VI-208 
providing additional incremental water for irriga- 
tion, or perhaps better quality water for irrigation, 
then I think we are much closer to economic 
practicality than people think. 
In a subsequent dialogue at the same hearing 
between Senator Jordan of Idaho and Dr. Jack 
Hunter, Director of the Office of Saline Water, 
Senator Jordan pointed out that even at 16 cents 
per 1,000 gallons ($50 per acre-foot), possibly 
achievable with a billion gallon per day plant, this 
is still not cheap enough for agricultural water. 
However, conceivably at that cost it might be used 
once in several years as a supplemental supply of 
irrigation water to save a citrus crop or a citrus 
orchard.>! 
Mr. Hunter’s reply indicated a subtle point:°? 
I would also again like to remind you that the high 
quality water that we are speaking of has a value 
beyond much of the natural water available in, for 
example, the Southwest ... For example, 10-cent 
desalted water might have equal value with 5-cent 
natural water. 
