Since restarting its desalination plant, Santa Barbara hasn't reached production goals. The Water Commission recommends increasing the yearly contract amount to address staff turnover and repair issues.
Since restarting its desalination plant, Santa Barbara hasn't reached production goals. The Water Commission recommends increasing the yearly contract amount to address staff turnover and repair issues. Credit: Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk file photo

Despite the desalination plant not meeting annual production goals, the city of Santa Barbara may allocate an additional $1.8 million to the facility operation contract toward labor costs and repairs.

On Thursday, the Santa Barbara Water Commission recommended that the city approve two contract amendments with IDE Americas, which runs the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant.

The first amendment would increase the plant’s funds by an additional $1.87 million per year, bringing the total contract to $4.89 million per year. The second will ask IDE to install a third intake pump for the plant and establish a repair obligation for the equipment.

Desalination, which turns seawater into potable water, makes up 21% of Santa Barbara’s water supply, according to a report at the meeting. The process also plays a vital part in the city’s drought preparation, response and recovery plans.

The city entered a design, build and operate contract with the plant operator IDE Americas in 2014. Construction on the plant lasted from 2015 to 2017; the current contract began in 2019. (The facility was originally built in the 1990s and was operated for a short time before being put in long-term storage mode.)

According to the contract, IDE was required to produce 3,125 acre-feet of clean water per year. The contract also makes IDE responsible for water quality, energy consumption and chemical usage.

Since then, IDE has failed to meet its annual production goal and has been operating at a loss. According to Bradley Rahrer, the principal project manager for the city, the plant has faced a series of issues that have stalled production.

In addition to not meeting production goals, the plant suffered from operational issues, such as faulty intake pipes. The malfunctions led to interruptions in the plant’s disinfection process and failures in its pretreatment system.

Some of the malfunctions have been blamed on a lack of proper maintenance on the systems.

Due to the plant operating at a loss, IDE has made spending cuts over the last five years. The cuts have led to a high turnover of workers, which caused substandard operation and maintenance of the facility’s equipment, according to the city.

Many of the problems were detailed in 2023 when the Water Resources Division paid for a third-party firm to assess the desalination plant to see if the department’s concerns were valid.

Rahrer explained that IDE has suffered from high turnover in the five years since it began operating the plant.

One reason attributed to the turnover was the plant’s lack of funds and inability to meet market rates. Rahrer stated that due to the high cost of living in Santa Barbara, the wages offered by the plant were not sustainable and made it difficult to maintain workers.

“The plant’s been operating since 2017, and we’re on our sixth plant operator,” Rahrer said. “It just gives you an example of … how much of a struggle (it is) to maintain staff here and provide a living wage.”

Rahrer also stated that due to the cap in the previous contract, the plant never had enough funds to offer competitive wages.

Water Resources Manager Joshua Haggmark, front center, and city officials host a tour of the desalination plant in 2018.
Water Resources Manager Joshua Haggmark, front center, and city officials host a tour of the desalination plant in 2018. Credit: Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk file photo

Councilmember Kristen Sneddon, who was serving as the liaison for the Santa Barbara City Council, said the fact the city was spending more money to solve the plant’s staffing issue rubbed her the wrong way.

She did not oppose the plan but said that IDE could have anticipated the cost of living early on.

“It would sit better for me if (the cost increase) was because of algae issues or something that the city is responsible for in some way,” Sneddon said.

Joshua Haggmark, the water resources manager, said his department plans to have a third party audit the plant to ensure that the additional funds are used for labor costs, not company profit.

Some of the money will be used to upgrade parts of the plant’s operations in addition to wages.

During contract negotiations, IDE agreed to implement a strategic plan to address design flaws, establish a repair and replace plan, and possibly expand production in the future, Haggmark said.

The city won’t be the only one paying for the higher contract costs, if they’re approved.

The Montecito Water District purchases water from the city, and under that agreement “operating costs for the Desalination Plant are proportionately shared between the City’s Water Operating Fund and the Montecito Water District,” according to Thursday’s staff report.

— Noozhawk staff writer Daniel Green can be reached at dgreen@noozhawk.com.