Cape May Looks to Expand Desalination Plant

CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council heard a report March 3 from the city’s engineering firm, Mott MacDonald, concerning the city water master plan. The report (https://bit.ly/2XkkSGz) called for massive new investment in the city’s water treatment and distribution system, which supplies about 5,000 permanent customers and sees a significant increase in use during the summer when tourists and second homeowners swell the city’s population.
A key component of the Mott MacDonald presentation was a recommendation for the expansion of the city’s desalination facility, which has existed for over 20 years. Water from the plant is the primary source of potable water for the city, West Cape May, Cape May Point, and the Coast Guard Base.
At a council meeting, in early July, the governing body approved the submission of an eligibility determination application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture water and environmental program. The eligibility submission would be the first step in subsequent applications for funds to implement the city water master plan, including the upgrade of the desalination facility.
The Sierra Club issued a press release July 30 that claims the city is “going in the wrong direction.” The argument is that a bigger desalination facility would make matters worse, not better. The Sierra Club claims “the bigger the plant is and the more they pump, it will become more and more expensive and do more environmental damage.” The press release states that Cape May’s plan “isn’t sustainable.”
The Sierra Club calls for a “holistic approach that included getting rid of impervious cover, water conservation, and stopping overdevelopment.”
Read the Sierra Club’s release:
Cape May City is planning a large increase in capacity for a desalination plant, according to local officials.
The Cape May peninsula has a serious problem with saltwater intrusion in their drinking water. The original desalination plant in Cape May cost $5 million to build and was only financially viable because of a federal grant. The city wants to increase the plant’s capacity by at least 50% to 3 million gallons of water a day, and eventually expand it even more.
“There is a serious problem again in Cape May with saltwater intrusion in their drinking wells. Instead of trying to deal with the problem, they’re going in the wrong direction. They want to build a bigger plant that will only make things worse. They want to take more brackish water for drinking, but by doing that the groundwater will become even saltier. The bigger the plant is and the more they pump, it will become more and more expensive and do more environmental damage. What’s worse is that they are doing it even though the DEP never updated or fully completed the study on the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer,” stated Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “These days, the salt water intrusion line is moving up the Cape May peninsula faster than traffic on the Parkway on a Sunday evening. Sea level rise and climate impacts are only making things worse. Instead of dealing with the saltwater intrusion, Cape May is going down a path that not only isn’t sustainable but will make things worse.”
Overdeveloping areas with limited water supply is one of the causes of saltwater intrusion. New developments continue to be built without consideration of the impacts to groundwater. Increasing population in these areas exponentially increases the load on the aquifer because one person uses about 75 gallons of water per person per day. Overdevelopment and sprawl also lead to more impervious surfaces, which block rainwater from recharging the aquifer.
“Expanding the desalination plant will only help promote more overdevelopment in Cape May like the one proposed by East Cape May Associates. The city continues to promote overdevelopment without doing basic scientific analysis of wetlands or if there is enough water to service the development. New developments increase the population of the area and mean more people are hooked into the system. Adding an additional 1 million gallons of water will be enough for 15,000 people, and even more if they get what they want. Overdevelopment also means more impervious cover like roads and buildings, resulting in stormwater or sewage runoff into the ocean instead of recharging the aquifer,” stated Tittel. “Cape May is just feeding into the downward spiral of more development leading to more pumping, which means less recharge and more saltwater intrusion.”
New Jersey is one of the most vulnerable states to climate change and sea level rise. According to a new DEP climate report, New Jersey is expected to see a 4-11% increase in annual precipitation by 2050. Rising sea levels may threaten freshwater intakes and aquifer recharge areas, and combined sewer overflow communities may be further challenged as sea-level rise and/or increased rain events submerge discharge points. Sea-level rise could reach 2.1 feet by 2050, and could increase by as much as 6 feet or more by 2100.
“Sea level rise is also contributing to more saltwater getting into the aquifer. As the Bay and ocean rise, more and more saltwater will get into drinking water, making the plan not even operational at some point. Rutgers recently released a report projecting sea level rising anywhere from 5 to 8.8 feet by 2100. DEP’s own climate report projects sea-level rise of 2.1 feet by 2050, which means that Cape May could end up underwater. Cape May has already lost over 1000 feet of beach, and they’ve had to move the lighthouse. As the Bay rises and the land sinks because of all of the pumping, it is a double hit. As Garrison Keillor might say, sea-level rise may turn Cape May into ‘Cape May Be Gone’,” stated Jeff Tittel. “Under the CAFRA law, there’s supposed to be a determination by the DEP Commissioner that a project won’t cause sasaltwaterntrusion. The fact that they have to expand this desalination plant shows that CAFRA isn’t being followed or implemented properly.”
The Sierra Club helped fund a study on the impact of water withdrawals to the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer in 2000. The study was supposed to be completed in 2005, but the results still have not been finalized. The aquifer is one of the largest reserves of fresh water on the East Coast, with 17-trillion gallons of water.
“Using a desalination plant and overdeveloping these areas just becomes a self-perpetuating failure. The Sierra Club helped get funding for the study of the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer 20 years ago, but the study still isn’t completed. DEP needs to finish and update the study based on climate change and sea-level rise, and “Cape May needs to use the study to look at the problem. Instead of foolishly moving ahead with this extremely expensive plant, they should be getting rid of impervious cover to help the aquifer recharge and conserving water. This means not using freshwater for swimming pools, getting rid of landscaping that needs watering, and urging residents to use less water at homes,” stated Tittel. “The state also needs to fix CAFRA to make sure that new developments will actually not cause salt water intrusion.”
In 1996, the City of Cape May started construction of their desalination facility. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided a $1 million grant and a $2 million 40-year loan. The governor’s office also provided $250,000, and $1.7 million was provided via the NJ Infrastructure Trust.
“Building a bigger desalination plant will not fix saltwater intrusion. Pumping 3 million gallons of water from the aquifer each day will only make things worse. There are also toxic chemicals and salt that are byproducts of the osmosis process that the plant uses that can end up in the ocean or environment. Without a holistic approach that includes getting rid of impervious cover, water conservation, and stopping overdevelopment, the saltwater line will only continue to rise. This not only impacts drinking water, but the ecology of the area as well. There are already areas that used to be freshwater wetlands that are now saltwater because of the rising salt line. Cape May needs to start thinking differently about how to deal with saltwater intrusion, otherwise it will only continue to get worse,” stated Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We fought against this plant 20 years ago because it was too expensive and we said it would make the problem worse. Expanding this plant is the wrong approach and will not fix the problem.”