Mayors' water group finally releases draft proposal to modify state's Carmel River cutback order.

For the past month, Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority and its partners have kept details on an important development in the region's water supply—a bid to push back the state-ordered schedule to reduce pumping of the Carmel River—secret.

Today MPRWA officials changed course, releasing the draft proposal in advance of their Feb. 12 meeting.

The proposal, dated Jan. 14, argues California American Water has "diligently and aggressively" worked to comply with the State Water Resources Control Board's 2009 cease-and-desist order, which set a December 2016 deadline for Cal Am to reduce its Carmel River pumping by 70 percent.

But even the best-case scenario, according to Cal Am figures, puts the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project—anchored by a large seawater desalination plant—online in 2020-21. So MPRWA and Cal Am are asking for more time.

As the Weekly reported Jan. 15, the state water board has already rejected two similar proposals within the past year, according to MPRWA member and Carmel-by-the-Sea Mayor Jason Burnett. But this latest proposal, he says, is making progress: "We're on the right track."

Highlights from the draft proposal: 

1. A four-year extension, pushing the 70-percent cutback deadline back to Dec. 31, 2020.

2. A process giving officials from the state water board's Division of Water Rights authority to extend the deadline "for good cause."

3. Starting in the 2015-16 water year, Cal Am will ratchet back its illegal pumping from the Carmel River by an additional 1,000 acre-feet per year—beyond the reduction already achieved. 

4. Cal Am will set the following milestones:

• Construction of downstream fish passage facilities at the Los Padres Dam by September 2016.
• Groundbreaking on the desalination plant by September 2017.
• Construction for the desal plant "substantially on schedule" by September 2018 and September 2019.
• Desal plant complete by September 2020.

5. If Cal Am misses any of the above milestones, it will have to reduce Carmel River pumping by another 1,000 acre-feet per year—on top of the reductions described in point 3 above…

6. …unless Division of Water Rights officials determine, at MPRWA/Cal Am/Monterey Peninsula Water Management Authority request, that Cal Am and the local water agencies have tried their best to hit the milestones. In that case, they can decide not to slap Cal Am's wrist.

7. In the meantime, Cal Am will look to acquire other water rights in order to reduce its illegal diversions from the Carmel River.

Other points to the proposed cutback order modification are more technical, but you can read the whole thing (which MPRWA Executive Director Jim Cullem says will be posted tomorrow) in the Feb. 12 MPRWA agenda packet.