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Many Rio Grande Valley residents welcomed news of a planned desalination plant that will produce up to 100 million gallons of drinking water for this critically dry region. Some, however now are expressing concerns that the plant will be operated by a private company.
Such worries are premature, but they serve to remind public officials that the project requires full accountability and dedication to true market forces.
US Desalination LLC and IDE Technologies of Israel plan to build the reverse-osmosis plant to convert water from the Gulf of Mexico into potable water for the entire Valley. Local officials and representatives of the partnership have said the operation initially will produce around 50 million gallons per day, but will be able to double that capacity.
Privatization, deregulation and divestiture have been popular political topics for more than 30 years, but many people apparently still believe that public control is better because, they think, officials will be responsive to the public’s demands and can be voted out if they don’t. History has shown, however, that government accountability often is harder to secure, and incumbent officials are virtually impossible to remove.
Getting government out of the way has benefited us greatly in many key industries. Just a few decades ago, telephone service was shoddy and expensive. Most adults now carry phones in their pockets and long-distance calls generally don’t cost extra. Much of that convenience and economy results from technological advances, but it’s doubtful those advances would have come as fast if government still ran the phone companies.
Similar benefits and conveniences have followed greater privatization in air travel, financial services and other enterprises where we now enjoy more options at lower cost.
Perhaps the greatest benefit can be seen in space missions. NASA managed two our three missions a year at exorbitant costs to taxpayers. Today, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and other private companies routinely send up several rockets every month with greater reliability and at a fraction of the cost.
Government operations, however, from road maintenance to contracted construction, are almost universally known for slow progress, cost overruns and questionable quality
To be sure, not all stories can herald success. Many consider private jails and detention centers to be a disaster. Much of the problem, however, can be traced to a lack of accountability, in which government officials have allowed the facilities to withhold information about conditions of the facilities, and of the inmates.
If anything, this should remind officials of the need to require transparency from the desalination plant. Moreover, they should ensure that customers can opt out as easily as they can opt in. Successful deregulation of the electricity and phone industries largely follows customers’ ability to switch companies if they are dissatisfied with their current carrier.
A private desalination company shouldn’t scare residents — unless public officials enable it to escape the free market forces that help ensure they remain responsive to their clients.