NEWS/EVENTS | mpwsp

NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

California American Water is hosting multiple interactive community workshops to help residents learn more about our water supply, the impact of the drought and affordability. All interested members of the community are encouraged to attend.

Upcoming meetings will be listed here.

COMMUNITY VOICES

Responsible water management requires planning for an uncertain future

Responsible water management is complex and relies on planning for potential worst-case scenarios to ensure there is enough supply to meet any and all future demand.

Reputable, data-centered water forecasting must look at trends and changes in current customer behavior, new government regulations, growth and new development, changes in commercial activity and climate conditions. To make sure that sufficient water is available in both drought years and wet years, California American Water forecasts demand by looking at state and regional growth projections, commercial and industrial supply and anticipated demand, as well as commercial and residential remodels.

There is no way to oversimplify water demand modeling. There are no shortcuts or workarounds. And Cal Am’s data certainly can’t be arbitrarily underestimated. As the director of our engineering team for Cal Am, when we say that the Monterey Peninsula will likely need 14,480 acre-feet per year of water in 2050, I assure you it’s based on sound data and thoughtful modeling.

Our planning uses realistic inputs based on regional housing needs, changing climate conditions and long-term projections for sustainable water supplies and availability. Doing otherwise would be irresponsible — putting the entire region’s economic growth and sustainability at risk.

To ensure the Monterey Peninsula’s current and future water supply needs are met, Cal Am is advancing a three-pronged approach to increasing water supply with a new desalination plant as its keystone. Desalination will provide a drought-proof source of water — producing 5,377 acre-feet of treated water per year in the plant’s first phase, enough to serve about 18,300 households.

The other two prongs of increasing water supply include expanding the aquifer storage and recovery program (ASR) in conjunction with the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District to capture excess winter flows from the Carmel River for use during the dry summer months and expansion of Pure Water Monterey’s groundwater replenishment project.

These three sources of water, along with Cal Am’s current water supplies, are expected to provide up to 15,650 acre-feet per year in normal water years and up to 14,910 acre-feet per year in drought years, after full build-out of the desal plant (Phase 2).

Developing this portfolio of reliable water sources is what’s necessary to lift the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Cease and Desist Order that required Cal Am to significantly reduce pumping from the Carmel River and to develop a new water supply to replace nearly 75% of the Peninsula’s historic water supplies. The Order continues to prohibit Cal Am from providing water to new service connections until a long-term sustainable water supply is brought online.

Cal Am’s multifaceted approach is better than a single-source solution. Adding desalination to ASR and PWM Expansion supplies — which are highly vulnerable to drought — will bring a reliable, drought-proof water source to the Peninsula. It will also build redundancy into the system to continue providing water if one component becomes temporarily unavailable.

We are planning for a future where the SWRCB Cease-and-Desist order is lifted, new water hookups are made possible, regional tourism and businesses can grow, the area’s backlog of development projects can begin moving again, and more affordable housing is built.

In order to plan for maximum demand, Cal Am must ensure that all portions of the demand estimates are accounted for. If left unaccounted, Cal Am may experience a supply shortfall which would be irresponsible water planning.

Simply put, to avoid a water supply shortfall, we need all available water solutions, including drought-proof desalination. Diversifying our water sources will reduce the risk of a supply shortage during the next inevitable drought. Doing anything less would be irresponsible and hinder our future sustainable growth.

Lacy Carothers is the Director of Engineering at California American Water, overseeing the engineering department throughout the state, including management of capital and reoccurring projects, system assessment and regulatory compliance.

Guest Commentary: Despite other projects, we still need desal

I have served on the Monterey 1 Water Board of Directors and Board of Supervisors for the past eight years, while both Pure Water Monterey and Pure Water Monterey expansion were approved.

I supported both Pure Water and reluctantly, Pure Water Monterey expansion as possible additional sources of water to supply the Monterey Peninsula; but not as a replacement for desal and the water supply project that the Monterey Peninsula so desperately needs.

The reason Pure Water Monterey cannot be the sole water solution is simple; there is just not enough reliable source water, which is primarily reclaimed agricultural drain and industrial wastewater from the Salinas Valley, available.

When the M1W agency embarked on the Pure Water Monterey project, we all knew and it was never intended that recycled water could meet all the water needs of the Monterey Peninsula. We always anticipated that desal would also be needed to meet even the current Peninsula water needs.

The expansion project was not initiated by our board but was proposed by the Monterey Peninsula Water Management agency and they paid for the EIR costs. Initially, our board was so concerned about inadequacy of source water that we took unprecedented steps and voted not to certify the EIR. Later, we reluctantly moved forward on the expansion project, concluding that it would at least provide some water for the Monterey Peninsula.

Unfortunately, these two projects, Pure Water Monterey and Expansion, have now been calculatedly used by some to try to undermine and derail the proposed desal project, claiming these recycled water projects will meet all the water needs of the Monterey Peninsula. That just isn’t so. Even if these two projects worked perfectly and can produce the projected amounts of water (5750 AF) these sources cannot meet the water needs of the Monterey Peninsula. That is not just my opinion but is supported by every water study and testimony before the CPUC.

Pure Water Monterey may produce enough water to offset the pumping from the Carmel River ordered by the state of California 25 years ago but it will not produce enough water to allow the lifting of the moratorium on new or increased water connections according to the State Water Resources Control Board.

While the Pure Water Monterey project has been successful and our M1W board is quite proud of it, it has not been without its challenges. Additional extraction wells were needed, the cost of the water has almost doubled throughout the project and some source water we relied on didn’t materialize, we have been unable to effectively treat the Ag wash water due to its intense chemical content. But we have been successfully producing 3,500 acre-feet of water a year.

Expansion is entirely another matter. Now that we have had the opportunity to observe the operation of Pure Water Monterey during the recent drought years and its impact on the Salinas Valley Basin, many of us are quite concerned about adequacy of source water for expansion, the possible negative impact it may have on Castroville Salt Water Instruction Project and saltwater intrusion in the Salinas Basin.

These concerns about the expansion project have led to the Monterey County Water Resource Agency sending a six-page letter to both the CPUC and the Coastal Commission, expressing their concern. Those letters are available online. Two quotes, however, stand out.

“Based on the operational experiences of the past two years with the PWM projects online, MCWRA’s concerns regarding the availability of sufficient source waters for both the PWM and the PWMx projects are heightened, especially in dry/drought conditions. MCWRA estimates there is only 1,688 AFY of water available for the PWMx, mostly during the winter months”

“MCWRA is concerned that M1W might be prioritizing wastewater use for PWM when it should be utilized for CSIP, and that this situation could worsen considerably with the PWMx project, especially if the drought continues”

I fully support this desal project, not just for the residents and businesses on the Monterey Peninsula, but also for all the residents from my district who work on the Peninsula.

And I support this desal project for a more selfish reason; the town of Castroville, where my office sits, is by all accounts a disadvantaged community that sits in the center of the area impacted by saltwater intrusion. The water table is dropping and our wells are becoming saltier by the month. Desal is the only solution for Castroville’s survival. This desal project has committed to supplying sufficient water to Castroville to meet its current water needs and allow it to thrive.

John M. Phillips is a Monterey County Supervisor (District 2) and a member of the Monterey 1 Water Board of Directors

Fred Meurer, guest commentary: We need Coastal Commissions to approve water Project

In the mid 1990s, state water authorities put a limit on the daily water allowed to be pumped from Carmel River, the primary source of water for the Monterey Peninsula. The result has been more than twenty-five years of uncertainty for the Monterey Peninsula as water demands continued to rise without adequate supply.

As Chairman of the Monterey Bay Defense Alliance, a long-time Monterey County resident, the former Monterey City Manager and former Ft. Ord Director of Public Works and Housing with an advanced degree from Stanford University in Water Resources, I say with the strongest convictions that the California Coastal Commission should approve the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project ( MPWSP) to meet the needs of our current and future residents, businesses and military missions which desperately need a reliable source for long-term resilient water supply.

When Californians hear about water shortages, the first thing that comes to mind is clean drinking water. But inadequate water supply has an impact on housing, business, local economies and even on national security. A well-designed water supply should be structured to provide a responsive and resilient supply of water sufficient to meet the demands of local government’s general plans and housing elements. Stifling the water supply to control growth, as has been done on the Monterey Peninsula, is bad public policy and results in land use decisions based on water available rather than the housing needs of a community. The result of this bad policy is reflected in part by the critical shortage of affordable workforce housing on the Peninsula.

The Monterey Bay Defense Alliance (MBDA), which I Chair, works to ensure that the national security activities in the Monterey Region have access to adequate and reliable critical infrastructure such as water, power, and workforce housing sufficient to meet current and future needs. Our mission is to protect and further the interests of Monterey County’s military missions, which generate $2.6B per year in economic activity and are responsible for 18,300 jobs in Monterey. However, with a building moratorium in place due to limited water supply, it’s impossible to ensure workforce housing for our current servicemembers, our veterans, or the civilian workforce supporting our military missions is available.

These interests are what bring me to support the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project (MPWSP), which will provide a critically needed, reliable, and resilient water source for our region and protect us against future droughts. The project is necessary for the economic vitality of the Monterey Peninsula and our military installations.

The MPWSP is designed to provide an adequate and reliable drought-proof water supply to the Monterey Peninsula. Our community desperately needs the assurance that our region has the water needed to grow, thrive, and take care of our residents. Extended periods of drought have created an unprecedented water crisis that threatens jobs and our local economy, including the continued presence of local national security assets and military missions in our region.

Opponents to the project argue that desalination is not needed and urge others to believe that there are other potential water sources that can be enlarged sufficiently to meet the expected demand. The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD) has published a Supply-Demand analysis that purports to demonstrate this theory. Their theory is based on hope, not facts

Furthermore, the population projections opponents have used to calculate demand do not include the populations associated with State mandated housing construction requirements. Our current supply and the opponents’ proposed supply fail to meet current and future demands.

The region’s water troubles are a major threat to our future. The MPWSP’s desalination project provides the solution we have been debating for too long. The lack of water and subsequent building moratorium has exacerbated the housing crisis in the region, increasing housing costs, and forcing workers to drive long distances between their jobs and affordable housing. The lack of workforce housing has become critical for our military organizations. This shortage is severely impacting their ability to maintain or recruit the highly technical civilian workforce they need to do their mission of supporting units in combat. The Commander of one operational unit recently stated that they were being forced to consider moving their mission elsewhere because of the lack of workforce housing.

The MPWSP is part of a comprehensive approach to creating a long-term, reliable water source through a portfolio of desalination, stormwater capture, and water recycling. It will protect the Carmel River ecosystem, supply new water for housing and jobs, and improve coastal access for local communities. The Monterey Peninsula has been in dire need of additional drought-proof, reliable water supplies for over four decades. There’s no time left to wait. Without new water supplies, our Peninsula could face water rationing and further pressure on a strained economy.
Our region needs the California Coastal Commission to approve the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project.