Cayman Water Company has submitted plans to the Central Planning Authority to build a new reverse osmosis desalination plant on the Seven Mile Beach corridor.
If approved, the $2.5 million facility on a nine-acre plot off Jasmine Blossom Way will be the company’s fourth on the west side of Grand Cayman.
Plans include a standby generator with a diesel tank and three 2-million-gallon water storage tanks which will be built on the Cayman Shores Development-owned land.
In its letter to the authority published in the 23 Aug. meeting agenda, the water company said the increased demand for potable water has led to the need for an additional plant.
It added that one of its current plants located on Britannia Water Works site on Britannia Drive is “beyond its serviceability life period” and the land lease will expire in May 2026.
Zone and setbacks
In its upcoming meeting, the authority plans to discuss specifically the suitability for an industrial plant in a ‘neighbourhood commercial’ zone.
This zone’s primary use is for a “less intense form of development of that permitted in a general commercial zone”, the authority said in its agenda.
It added that the 5,820-square-foot development exceeds minimum setbacks and may be required to be well landscaped as a condition of planning permission.
Cayman Water Company said water pressure to the south of its service area has been below the minimum set for Water Authority Cayman’s overall network since the start of the year.
“Demand will keep increasing as a direct consequence of several big developments under construction or projected for the southern end of Cayman Water’s service area,” it added.
The company said the project at the southern end of its service area will provide a “robust, reliable and high-quality” water production facility, associated pumping and water storage.
It went on to say hydrogeological modelling has set a minimum radius that a new plant must be away from the George Town Landfill and the neighbouring sewage treatment facility.
This parcel the company has chosen is the only available property beyond the minimum radius within the southern quarter of its service area.
A study of the visual impact of the proposed facility on neighbouring properties was completed in collaboration with a landscape architecture firm, the company said.
It made recommendations where existing vegetation could be enhanced along the site’s 20-foot buffer to ensure that the proposed facility will not be visible.
Protected mangroves
In its contribution to the plans, the Department of Environment voiced concern that the site is fringed with tidally flooded, protected mangrove forest.
“Any mangroves outside of the immediate footprint of the proposed development must be retained,” it said.
The department added that the access road is located in such a way that many of the remaining mangroves on site will be destroyed.
“We recommend that the applicant explores alternative options for the alignment of the access road, such that the mangroves may be retained as much as possible,” it said.
In response, Cayman Water Company said, “All existing mangrove and other vegetation surrounding the compound (buffer) will be retained and enhanced where required to provide a visual screening as outlined in the landscape drawings.
“The existing mangrove and vegetation on the remainder of the site will not be removed.”
Third time trying
This is the third time the company has presented an application for a desalination plant in the area to the Central Planning Authority.
In April 2020, a similar application was adjourned to invite the company to appear before the authority to discuss concerns on the location, source of water, and discharge of brine.
Then in June 2020, the authority refused the application. At the time, it said the proposed development was light industry while the site was zoned ‘neighbourhood commercial’.
It is in a prominent location between West Bay Road and Esterley Tibbetts Highway surrounded by commercial, institutional and entertainment related uses, it added.
The authority said the proposed facility represents a “visual intrusion into the area due to the height and industrial appearance” which will negatively affect nearby landowners.
The authority will decide on the new proposal following the 23 Aug. meeting at the Government Administration Building.
The decision will be published about three weeks later in the minutes of the meeting.
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If we need more clean water it has to come from somewhere. I realize it is always NOT IN MY BACKYARD but it has to be in someones backyard