Summary: Wednesday, August 5, 2015 The mayors of the cities on the Monterey Peninsula are showing some concern about California American Water's proposed desalination project. The project may stall out, or experience significant delays, as Cal‑Am has to deal with charges of a fundamental conflict of interest in the preparation of a legally required Environmental Impact Report. There are problems with the “test well” that Cal-Am has constructed in Marina, too. Testing had to be suspended because running the well drew down groundwater levels beyond the limits that the Coastal Commission said were acceptable. The Monterey County Weekly had an informative article about action taken by the mayors on July 30th. The mayors sent a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, asking for help. Cal‑Am is a multi‑national, privately-owned corporation, so there is no direct control at the local level. Because there isn’t, the State PUC becomes the regulating entity, charged with protecting the public interest. I have a link to the mayors’ letter in today’s transcript at kusp.org/landuse. Among other things, the mayors are hoping that the PUC will officially ask the State Water Resources Control Board to extend a deadline that mandates Cal-Am to reduce water withdrawals from the Carmel River. If the current December 2016 deadline isn’t extended, the Peninsula’s water supply could be cut in half. More Information: Land Use Links Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog Monterey County Weekly Article on Carmel River Deadline Text of Mayors’ Letter
