Researchers estimated the state has the potential to substantially boost local water supplies by recycling wastewater and capturing stormwater. California recycles about 23 percent of its municipal wastewater.
The Carmel River has been the Monterey Peninsula’s primary source of water for more than a century. That will come to an end on Jan. 1, 2022. The State Water Resources Control Board has ordered the area’s private water utility, California American Water (Cal Am), to reduce its draws from the river by two-thirds of what it pumped a decade ago.