Agenda Item   

AGENDA STAFF REPORT

 

                                                                                                                        ASR Control  25-000785

 

MEETING DATE:

11/04/25

legal entity taking action:

Board of Supervisors

board of supervisors district(s):

All Districts

SUBMITTING Agency/Department:

OC Waste & Recycling   (Approved)

Department contact person(s):

Tom Koutroulis (714) 834-4122 

 

 

Julian Sabri (714) 834-7080

 

 

Subject:  Approve Memorandum of Understanding with South Coast Water District

 

     ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

          Concur

Approved Agreement to Form

Discussion

 

 

3 Votes Board Majority

 

 

 

    Budgeted: N/A

Current Year Cost:  N/A

Annual Cost: N/A

 

 

 

    Staffing Impact:

No

# of Positions:           

Sole Source:   N/A

    Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

   Funding Source:    N/A

County Audit in last 3 years: No

   Levine Act Review Completed: N/A

 

    Prior Board Action:         N/A

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

 

Authorize the Director of OC Waste & Recycling to sign the Memorandum of Understanding for the Renewable Energy to Desalination Exploratory Task Force between OC Waste & Recycling, aka Orange County Waste and Recycling, and South Coast Water District.

 

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

The Renewable Energy to Desalination Exploratory Task Force Memorandum of Understanding between Orange County Waste and Recycling and South Coast Water District provides Parties a mechanism to share consulting costs associated with obtaining the information needed to make fully informed decisions regarding a possible future energy partnership or arrangement and seek grant opportunities.

 

 

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

OC Waste & Recycling (OCWR) is responsible for managing Orange County's (County) solid waste disposal system, which consists of three active regional landfill operations, 20 closed solid waste disposal sites, and four household hazardous waste collection centers.

 

 

 

One of OCWR’s three landfills, the Prima Deshecha Landfill (Prima), is located in San Juan Capistrano. OCWR is studying the feasibility of developing a new facility at Prima to generate electricity through utilization of the landfill gas (LFG) generated by the landfill. This project aims to provide public benefits to the south Orange County region by providing reliable, locally generated power, produced through means of environmentally sustainable processes in a financially responsible manner. Prima had such a facility in the past that was built and operated by a third-party vendor, but the South Coast Air Quality Management Permits expired requiring the decommissioning and removal of the facility in 2021. A more modern facility was planned to be built farther away from homes in the center of the landfill property after Zone 4 construction permits were approved allowing for development. The Zone 4 construction permits were approved on February 12, 2025.   

 

In 2023, South Coast Water District (SCWD) sent a letter to OCWR requesting an evaluation to determine the feasibility of a potential energy partnership between the two agencies and to identify opportunities to supply power to the SCWD proposed Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant (Doheny Desalination Plant), a seawater desalination treatment plant to be located in Dana Point. The Doheny Desalination Plant will provide a locally controlled, drought-resilient source of drinking water to south Orange County to reduce dependence on imported water. The SCWD is currently at the 30 percent design phase of the Doheny Desalination Plant, which will produce 5 million gallons per day of drinking water and require approximately 3.5 megawatts of power.

 

The two agencies met frequently and OCWR retained the services of Black & Veatch (BV) to perform evaluations to investigate project viability and identify opportunities that would provide benefits to OCWR, the SCWD and other stakeholders.

 

BV reviewed historical electricity demands for the County of Orange, Prima and the proposed Doheny Desalination Plant alongside the projected energy generated from a new LFG-to-energy facility. This exercise provided context for the potential benefits that a new LFG-to-energy facility would potentially provide for OCWR, the SCWD and the surrounding communities.  BV reviewed and built upon a previous OCWR study prepared by BV that evaluated alternative technology options for developing a new LFG-to-energy facility and conceptually identified the associated lifecycle (construction, operation and maintenance) costs.

 

BV’s OCWR-SCWD Joint Task Force Report (Report) prepared in September 2025, outlines the results of the electric utility and power transmission evaluation, indicating that leveraging the mutual benefits of both the Doheny Desalination Plant and OCWR’s LFG-to-energy facility could cover OCWR costs to produce electricity and meet the Doheny Desalination Plant electricity cost and renewable energy usage objectives. As part of the Report, BV also performed an evaluation to provide an overview of potential delivery options that OCWR may elect to employ based on organizational preferences and philosophies that could be of benefit to the feasibility and delivery of the project. The report included eight delivery strategies (detailed in Chapter 5 of the Report) for consideration.

 

Under the MOU, the two agencies will embark on a subsequent report to identify the most advantageous energy delivery method.  Additionally, this potential partnership for renewable energy generation for a desalination project may qualify for Proposition 4 grant funding. California’s Prop. 4, passed by voters in November 2024, provides grant funding for various climate-related projects, including allocations for renewable energy infrastructure and water resilience projects that cover desalination. The bond authorizes $10 billion in general obligation bonds, with grants being administered by agencies like the California Department of Water Resources and the California Energy Commission. The goal and objective of the MOU is to combine efforts to compete for grant funding to augment the project costs, formalize the alignment of efforts and coordination of project development and share available resources that support renewable energy and potable water production.

 

The SCWD Board of Directors unanimously approved the MOU on October 16, 2025.

 

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

 

N/A

 

STAFFING IMPACT:

 

N/A

 

ATTACHMENT(S):

 

Attachment A – Renewable Energy to Desalination Exploratory Task Force Memorandum of Understanding
Attachment B - OCWR-SCWD Joint Task Force Report