Cal Am Desal Project Schedule Slips Again to Mid-2019

California American Water's Monterey Peninsula Desalination Plant Won't Be Operational Until Mid-2019 at the Earliest After the Latest Project Delay

California American Water's Monterey Peninsula desalination plant won't be operational until mid-2019 at the earliest after the latest project delay, 2 1/2 years after the state-ordered cutback in over-pumping from the Carmel River is set to take full effect, and that's if nothing else goes wrong with a project facing a number of ongoing risks and challenges.

The prospect of an increasingly drawn-out project schedule continues to underscore the importance of a Peninsula bid to relax the state water board's cutback order, including a new proposal formally submitted three weeks ago.

According to Cal Am's project engineering manager, Ian Crooks, in a report to the Peninsula water authority's technical advisory committee on Monday, a state Public Utilities Commission judge's decision last month to postpone release of the draft project environmental impact report from January to April pushed the entire desal project schedule back about five months, including the date it's expected to start producing potable water for the Peninsula — now set for May instead of January 2019.

Committee member and Peninsula hotelier John Narigi pointed out that Cal Am's schedule indicated the May 2019 start-up date — years after the state cutback order is supposed to kick in — is viable "only if everything goes perfect," calling the news a "scary" development given the economic implications and said that all Peninsula residents should be made aware of the situation.

Local officials have indicated the Peninsula would only have enough water for its residents' basic needs after losing more than two-thirds of its water supply starting in 2017 under the state water board's proposed cutback order, leaving none for business, and an economic impact report suggests the loss of more than $1 billion in commercial business and 6,000 lost jobs even if the area were to lose just half its water supply, considered the minimum cutback under the state order.

The alternative under the order is paying steep fines for continuing to pump from the river after the cutback kicks in, which Cal Am is already contemplating collecting from Peninsula customers.

Narigi called, again, for the Peninsula water authority to send a letter directly to the state water board arguing that Peninsula customers should not have their water supply slashed or pay fines because the desal project delays are largely due to regulatory agency dictates, including the CPUC and the state Coastal Commission, which have called for more detailed analysis and reliance on experimental technology such as slant wells for desal intake.

But Monterey Peninsula Water Management District general manager Dave Stoldt told Narigi the authority shouldn't pursue independent action because of its participation in submitting what he later called a "substantive proposal" to the state water board on Jan. 14 aimed at relaxing the cutback order deadline. Stoldt declined to offer any details about the proposal, citing attorney-client privilege, but did say it was submitted through Cal Am by the litigants in a dormant lawsuit seeking to halt the cutback order.

Carmel Mayor Jason Burnett announced last month the outlines of a proposal to relax the deadline, but promised that proposal would be subject to public review before it was submitted. Burnett was not available for comment on Monday.

Meanwhile, the desal project schedule remains vulnerable to the risk of further delay even aside from the ever-present potential for litigation.

Source: Monterey Herald

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Taxonomy

• Desalination
• Water Supply
• Governance & Planning