In the June 3, 2014 election, Measure O – a local initiative for a public takeover of the California American Water system on the Monterey Peninsula – lost by a 45-55 margin. It did not carry a single city.
During the campaign, Cal Am vastly outspent the measure’s proponents, and all of the Peninsula’s mayors – with the exception of Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado, who abstained – publicly opposed the measure.
Yet now, in the face of ever-rising water bills, an expensive and potentially troubled desalination project and a growing sense of activism all across the country, the measure’s proponents think the time is right to take another shot.
On March 13, Public Water Now, a local activist group led by longtime public water advocate George Riley, held a forum in Monterey featuring a series of speakers who sought to cast doubt on the feasibility, legal defensibility and social justice of Cal Am’s proposed desal project.
Water rights, seawater intrusion and the cost of the project were all brought into question. At times, the vibe was pure fire and brimstone.
In closing, Riley told the audience, “We don’t have a strategy, all we have is people like you that share the sentiment that the time is right” to launch another measure. The soonest it would reach the ballot is June 2018.
Riley believes Cal Am’s desal project will be beset – and ultimately, doomed – by potential litigation from both Marina Coast Water District and agricultural interests. He wants to see more attention paid to two competing projects in Moss Landing.
Cal Am spokesman Kevin Tilden has a few things to say to that. For one, “Our water system is not for sale.” Second, “The other two projects are likely infeasible and unpermittable.”
If a public buyout measure were to pass, Dave Stoldt, general manager of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, estimates the eminent domain process would take three to five years. And while he says he’s confident the district could manage the system effectively, they take no stance: “We’re like Switzerland.”
(2) comments
Cal Am Water has become our local version of "Trump rule". No direction, no solid background, faulty "science", multiple major blunders with massive costs dumped on to the public. NO END in sight!!! And NO ONE putting an end to it! I've only lived in this area for 6 years and can't even count how many times this ridiculous outfit has screwed up in just that short time. We were recently warned that our rates would go up. I just got my first "increased" bill and it's 285 times higher!!!!! Yes, that's just short of TRIPLED since last month! My use was exactly the same as last month and the bill was nearly tripled.
We've been told that we were so vigilant and effective about saving water over the last year, that poor old Cal Am actually lost money since we weren't using much water!!!
Surely I'm not the only one who has noticed the complete insanity in what's going on here. This situation is probably the most ridiculous to have affected me in all of my adult life. No, we are not mindless lemmings, or sheep following the leader over the cliff, just because the leader says to do so (please refer back to the Trump analogy). Cal Am Water has spiraled WAY out of control and we need to quickly find a way to survive that eliminates them forever.
Mr. Riley's loyalty to his paymasters, Deep Water DeSal and Nadir Aga, is commendable. Unfortunately, his basic understanding of water economics and the state of the art science shown by Pure Water Monterey Advanced Water Purification Project is almost non-existent. I invite all of his followers to taste a glass of Seawater DeSal's best, and a current sample of tertiary treated water, and discover which one costs less, and which one tastes best. No existing groundwater, or spring water, or reservoir drinking water even comes close to the quality of state-of-the-art recycled water. Mr. Riley and his associates have been an enormous thorn in the side to efforts to develop practical and sensible solutions for the Monterey Peninsula. Getting him, Marc Del Piero, and several other malefactors out of the picture would have enabled us to catch up with Santa Cruz, or maybe even Orange County. It is tragic that the "Weakly" has served as a platform for keeping Mr. Riley and his associates in the public eye. Alas, the truth is not in him.
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