Sacramento >> Less than six months from the original deadline for complying with the Carmel River pumping cutback order, the state water board on Tuesday agreed to a five-year extension.
Offering only a few relatively minor changes to California American Water’s extension proposal, the board voted unanimously to allow more time to complete the quest for a replacement water supply for the Monterey Peninsula.
In a statement, state water board chairwoman Felicia Marcus said the extension proposal “recognizes significant progress in collaborative projects to augment river flows and gives Cal Am and the community organizations working on other large-scale alternative water projects time, while assuring that illegal diversions from the Carmel River will stop by the end of 2021.”
She said the milestone structure of the proposal would give incentive to complete new water supply projects “and provides a measured, stair-step reduction in diversions should the projects encounter significant delays or fail.
“We understand the political difficulty of putting together large-scale water projects across multiple jurisdictions, but this problem was identified more than 20 years ago. It’s time to move forward and get it done.”
Dozens of locals attended the hearing in Sacramento, and about 30 of them spoke during public testimony, mostly urging the board to adopt the extension and avoid the economic devastation they argued would follow a major cutback in river water use without a replacement supply. Nearly 80 local comments were sent to the board in response to a preliminary staff recommendation that was amended late last week.
Cal Am President Rob MacLean said, “We’re pleased with the outcome. The right balance has been struck and we are grateful to everyone in the community who helped us get there.”
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District general manager Dave Stoldt called the board’s decision a “good outcome” and praised the Peninsula community for its “show of force,” which he said shows how “collaborative and unified we have become.”
Cal Am, which was facing a Dec. 31 deadline for cutting its river water use to 3,376 acre-feet per year, initially applied for the extension in November after years of talks with state water board staff that started shortly after it became clear the proposed Cal Am desalination plant would not be able to produce water by the so-called cliff.
Under the extension, Cal Am will be required to limit its river water use to 8,310 acre-feet per year, and meet a series of water supply-related milestones or face reductions of 1,000 acre-feet of river water.
Jim Johnson can be reached at 831-726-4348.