California American Water Desalination Facility

The Coastal Commission approved a coastal development permit for California American Water to construct and operate a 4.8 million-gallon-per-day (MGD) desalination facility in Marina. The plant would use subsurface seawater intake wells located within a CalAm easement in part of the CEMEX sand mining facility adjacent to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The desalination facility itself would be constructed inland of the coastal zone and would discharge processed saline brine to an existing outfall operated by the regional wastewater treatment agency, Monterey One Water. The proposed project has a controversial history involving multiple agency reviews, spawning at least 10 lawsuits, including several against the California Public Utilities Commission, and raising significant environmental justice concerns.While the Monterey Pure Water Expansion provides a feasible and less environmentally damaging alternative to Cal-Am’s Project in the near term, Commission staff concluded that the Project is needed in the longer term and therefore recommended approval of the project, a shift from their 2020 staff recommendation for denial.

Expansion of the Pure Water Monterey water recycling project is a much lessimpactful alternative and should be prioritized before resorting to desalination and its impacts. Pure Water Monterey Expansion would use less energy, would eliminate brine disposal altogether, and would be accomplished in a smaller footprint. Building desalination now is premature, and locks the peninsula into an expensive solution that will likely be eclipsed by future developments in desal technology.