Cal Am quits desal project
Company, county agree to seek potential alternatives
Jim Johnson
Monterey Herald
01/18/2012
After five months of unsuccessful mediation, California American Water has officially turned its back on the Regional Desalination Project in favor of a search for a different alternative water supply for the Peninsula.
But questions remain in the aftermath of the ill-fated project that was born and apparently died in private talks, including how the search for an alternative will be conducted and who will be held responsible for the millions of dollars already spent on the $400 million proposal.
On Tuesday, Cal Am announced it would withdraw its support for the project, effectively killing the proposal, after the mediation process ended Monday.
In a news release, Cal Am President Rob MacLean said the firm decided to back out of the desal project when it became clear there would be no resolution emerging out of the mediation, which was sponsored by the state Public Utilities Commission. The mediation, which began in August, was intended to resolve a number of issues, including an alleged conflict of interest involving former county water board member Steve Collins and litigation that resulted in a ruling requiring a new environmental review for the project.
Instead, MacLean said Cal Am and the county agreed to seek potential alternatives that could meet the need for a replacement source of water on the Peninsula, which is facing a state-ordered cutback in pumping from the Carmel River that takes full effect in 2016. He said Marina Coast Water District, a partner in the desal project, has been invited to participate.
"Desalination will be part of the Monterey Peninsula's future water supply, but the Regional Desalination Project will not be the vehicle to deliver it," MacLean said in the release. "A lot of valuable work has been accomplished that will still be applicable to a desalination project that needs to be developed."
While MacLean was not available for comment, Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Bowie said the firm believes it has the authority to unilaterally withdraw from the project under the terms of the proposal's water purchase agreement.
She said it's time to seek other ways to solve the area's impending water crisis.
"I think there's a general understanding throughout the community that there's limited time for a solution and we needed to move forward," she said. "The main point is we're out of time."
In Cal Am's news release, Supervisor Dave Potter said it's time to get everyone on the Peninsula involved in finding a workable alternative.
"Everyone is committed to finding a water supply solution for the Monterey Peninsula," Potter said. "With mediation ending and the environmental impact report stalled, we have an opportunity to more broadly engage the public and fix the Peninsula's water problem."
Bowie acknowledged there is no plan in place to identify an alternative project capable of meeting the demand for a replacement water source by the state-imposed deadline. But she noted Cal Am had already prepared a study of water supply alternatives that considered nearly a dozen potential projects, all of which included desalination. Bowie said the study, unveiled at an October public forum, "set the parameters" for the discussion.
Study of alternatives
The consultant who prepared the study found that a north Marina desal plant similar to the regional proposal, combined with aquifer storage and recovery, was the most cost-effective alternative and the most likely to be finished by the end of 2016.
The consultant recommended Cal Am seek approval for a 10,000-acre-foot desal plant but construct it in phases to allow time to search for other, perhaps more cost-effective, alternatives, such as a groundwater replenishment proposal.
