The Regional Desalination Project has absorbed a series of blows since entering the ring in March 2010: public backlash, unmet financial obligations, conflict-of-interest charges, a lost court battle. On Jan. 17, California American Water finally pronounced the $400 million desal project dead.


Despite six months of mediation, project partners Cal Am, Monterey County Water Resources Agency and Marina Coast Water District couldn’t work out their differences, and Cal Am withdrew its support for the legal agreements backing the project. 


Now, Cal Am’s hitting the panic button. A state order to cut back Carmel River pumping 70 percent by late 2016 means time is running out. “That’s why we made our decision to withdraw our support for the agreements: We couldn’t afford delay,” company spokeswoman Catherine Bowie says. “Whatever the next project is going to be has to be the project.”


On Jan. 24, the California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to consider Cal Am’s request to keep working on a pipeline and water-storage facilities, which Cal Am claims are necessary components in all 11 alternative projects analyzed last fall. “Definitely desal will remain a component,” Bowie says.


The vacuum left by the Regional Project creates space for a joint powers authority proposed by the mayors of six Peninsula cities, who want a governing role in a new water supply project.


On Jan. 10, after hearing from a queue of skeptical residents, the Carmel City Council became the first to green-light the Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority. But the council’s unanimous approval included a letter from Carmel Mayor Sue McCloud to her fellow mayors, outlining five action items to address the public’s main concerns. “We all realize when you build a house, you build a foundation,” McCloud says. “No one wanted to imply it was perfect.”


Monterey Peninsula Water Management District General Manager David Stoldt was ruffled by the JPA’s initial exclusion of his agency. The Regional Project’s end lends momentum to the district’s own water-supply projects, including a smaller desal plant and expanded aquifer storage. “Some technical assessment of every project that’s out there needs to be done, and we intend to take a leadership role in that,” Stoldt says. 


Last fall, the mayors invited Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency to consider the JPA. But the agency’s role is limited to treating wastewater and recycling water, General Manager Keith Israel says: “We’re really not in the potable water business.” Changing the agency’s charter would require unanimous board approval.


Despite its current fuzziness, the JPA is marching forward. The Sand City council unanimously joined in on Jan. 17, and Pacific Grove signed on the following day. Seaside OK'd the JPA Jan. 19, and Del Rey Oaks Jan. 24; Monterey is set to re-consider Jan. 25.

Since the Regional Project agreements were signed, MCWRA and Marina Coast have spent about $7.3 million in related costs, Bowie says. It’s unclear who ultimately will foot the bill.


“We forwarded this money to the county and Marina Coast, and they were going to pay us back,” she says. “What’s going to happen with that hasn’t been worked out yet.”

(This story was updated Jan. 25 to reflect JPA approval by the cities of Pacific Grove, Seaside and Del Rey Oaks.)