Excess flow down the Carmel River during the recent winter storms provided the third best year ever for capturing and storing water into the Seaside Basin, an important part of ensuring Monterey Peninsula water needs are met. California American Water Co. and the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District worked in tandem to capture 495 million gallons and inject that water into the Seaside Underground Basin as a type of water savings account for future dry years.
Roughly a half-dozen agencies, governments and a nonprofit group have filed briefs with a state regulator that could determine whether or not California American Water Co. gets the OK for its years-long effort to build a desalination plant on the Monterey Peninsula.
With less than two weeks to go before the March 5 Primary Election, the races for Monterey County supervisors has come down to a single battle in District 5.
One of the Coastal Commission’s conditions is approval by the CPUC before the desal project can break ground. But in the Coastal Commission’s staff report recommending approval, it concludes that while the Pure Water Monterey Expansion will produce enough water in the short term to meet growth demands, in the long run an additional water source will “likely” be needed.
In May 2022, Paul Sciuto, general manager of Monterey One Water, was under his house building a shed when he got a call from Brent Buche, then-general manager of the