MONTEREY — The expansion of a Monterey One Water project that would deliver a significant amount of water to a thirsty Monterey Peninsula is moving forward with an eye toward agreements and financing of the $36 million effort.
The agency’s board of directors will receive an update on the project during its meeting beginning at 6 p.m. Monday and can be viewed at https://bit.ly/3qs3Sfc.
The original Pure Water Monterey project was jointly developed by Monterey One Water and the Monterey Peninsula Water Management Agency.
The expansion project is designed to add 2,250 acre-feet per year of recycled water to the currently promised 3,500 acre-feet delivered from the core Pure Water Monterey project, which is still working toward its maximum production.
Monterey One estimates that when the expansion comes online, it will meet roughly 60% of the Peninsula’s water demand.
The project is important to Peninsula residents and businesses because it will augment a supply that is earmarked for dramatic decreases. An order by state water officials requires California American Water’s pumping from the Carmel River aquifer to decrease from its current 7,310 acre-feet per year to 3,376 acre-feet by the end of this year.
Cal Am officials have said that major conservation efforts have also dramatically decreased demand, something in the neighborhood of 3,000 acre-feet. So the decrease in allowed pumping — sent from the state in a cease-and-desist order in 2009 because of over-pumping the aquifer — can be significantly offset by the increased production for the Pure Water Monterey project.
One acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons or enough water to cover an acre of land — about the size of a football field — one foot deep. The California Legislative Analyst’s Office reports the average water use in the state is 85 gallons per person per day.
A major hurdle was cleared in April when Monterey One’s board approved an environmental study that was a supplement to an original study conducted for the early 2019 launch of the core project.
Next up will be the completion of a water purchase agreement between Pure Water Monterey and Cal Am, an agreement both sides say they are continuing work to complete. Once the agreement is hammered out, it will then need to go before the California Public Utilities Commission for approval.
A completed water purchase agreement is critical to the expansion project since it would provide the revenue needed to secure loans the Monterey One plans to take out to build out the project. The agreement could be thought of as collateral for any loan.
Cal Am has indicated its intent to fund up to $2 million of the costs of design, funding application preparation and permitting for the project. Catherine Stedman, a spokeswoman for Cal-Am, said this week that the company is supportive of the Pure Water Monterey project.
Pure Water Monterey uses secondary treated water from sources such as wastewater, agricultural runoff and stormwater that is then pumped into its treatment plant, which uses state-of-the-art technologies that are commonly used in processing strictly regulated items for public consumption like baby food and bottled water. The purified water is near distilled quality and exceeds all drinking water standards.
The water is then injected into wells into the Seaside Groundwater Basin that would allow an equal amount to be pumped out for water delivery.
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June 25, 2021 at 04:05AM
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Pure Water Monterey set to take next steps forward - Monterey Herald
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