TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Alamitos Energy Center (AES), of Long Beach, CA, to safeguard confidential proprietary information that may be disclosed to the City concerning its Alamitos Bay Water Quality Enhancement Project (Project); and
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an Access License Agreement, and any necessary amendments, with AES for the City to perform necessary investigative work related to engineering feasibility options to maintain current water circulation patterns and install fish-friendly pumps for the benefit of Alamitos Bay at the AES facilities, at 690 North Studebaker Road, in furtherance of the Project.
(District 3)
DISCUSSION
The State Water Resources Control Board enacted a Once Through Cooling (OTC) Policy in 2010, requiring power plants to phase out the practice of using marine water to cool turbines used for the generation of electricity. The OTC Policy aims to reduce the harmful effects associated with OTC, such as entrainment (fish and larvae drawn through the cooling system and subjected to hot water) and impingement (fish trapped at the screens).
AES is a natural gas power plant that provides electricity to Long Beach and the region. As part of its OTC pumping operations, AES currently draws ocean water from Alamitos Bay (Bay) and discharges the water to the San Gabriel River (SGR). AES has used ocean water to cool power plant turbines for over 55 years. Such pumping activities create currents, pulling ocean water into the Bay, mixing ocean and bay water, which, in turn, improves circulation and water quality. This consistent water movement has established habitat and water quality conditions that are now dependent on a regular supply of new seawater pulled from the open ocean into the Bay and re-circulated back to the ocean from the SGR. AES has recently decreased pump rates and plans to phase out OTC operations entirely by t...
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