There are multiple water stories happening right now in the Monterey Peninsula, following parallel tracks.
There’s the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s effort to buy out Cal Am’s local system, which is working its way through litigation.
And there’s Cal Am’s effort to build a desalination project in Marina, which Cal Am has repeatedly said it intends to start building by the end of this year. The latest update to the most recent chapter of that saga is that on Sept. 22, MPWMD, Marina Coast Water District and the City of Marina filed a motion with the California Public Utilities Commission asking that the agency set aside its Aug. 14 approval of the Peninsula’s water supply and projected demand in 2050 due to vagueness on multiple issues created by a dilemma that has long been known: The CPUC approved a 6.4 million gallons-per-day project in 2018, and the California Coastal Commission approved a 4.8 mgd project in 2022, which is the size that Cal Am intends to build, at least initially. There is a lot that hasn’t been sorted out, including how a smaller project would impact ratepayers, and who has to pay for water if there’s no demand for it.
Whether or not the CPUC will reopen a hearing it has just closed will be up to the CPUC, but for the public agencies making the motion, it preserves the right to litigate the decision in the future.
Meanwhile, the Pure Water Monterey expansion is right around the corner, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony set to take place on Thursday, Oct. 2.
The expansion brings the recycled water project up from 5 million gallons-per-day to 7.6 mgd of purified water injected into the Seaside Basin.
So now, MPWMD General Manager Dave Stoldt is laser-focused on convincing the State Water Board to lift its cease-and-desist order against Cal Am so that finally, Peninsula ratepayers can install new water meters.
“Let’s lift the guardrails and see if we can handle prosperity,” Stoldt says.