Utilities Monitoring wells
could reach $1.2 billion over 30 years to build and maintain the desalination project. They believe that the recycled water plant would come in at a fraction of the cost to taxpayers, at $190 million over the same time period.
Stedman said she did not know where the protesters got their $1.2 billion estimate. However, Monterey Peninsula Water Management District General Manager David Stoldt said the number came from Calam’s own spreadsheets earlier in the permit approval process.
“There has a been a lot of convenient amnesia on the part of the company,” Stoldt said. “The $329 million is in capital cost to build (the desalination plant). $1.2 billion is the 30-year total outof-pocket costs to build and run it.”
The water management district has not taken an official position over whether or not a desalination plant should be built, Stoldt said. Still, he added, the Coastal Commission, which approves permits, never looked into when the Peninsula would see the increased demand that Calam anticipates.
By using recycled water from Pure Water Monterey, an organization the district is funding, the Peninsula likely wouldn’t see a shortage until 2050, he said.
Burden on low-income?
Should saltwater intrusion occur, the residents of Seaside, Marina, Salinas and other cities would be forced to foot the bill for remediation, local officials allege. In a worst-case scenario, they would have to draw water from different aquifers entirely within the basin.
Seaside has a 14.9% poverty rate, Marina’s is 14.4%, and in Salinas it is 17.2%, well above the state average of 12.8%, 2018 data from the U.S. census estimates. In those cities and towns, though the median income ranges between $54,000 and $60,000 annually, the per capita income ranges from $19,268 to $27,211.
In contrast, the Peninsula is home to some of California’s wealthiest residents, just miles away. Median incomes in Carmel, Pacific Grove and Monterey range from $73,942 to $87,532; per capita incomes are between $41,846 and $62,356, two to three times the per capita income in Seaside, Salinas or Marina.
In Carmel and Pacific Grove, the poverty rate sits at 6.5% and 6.7%, respectively, about half the statewide average and three times less the poverty rate in its neighbor, Salinas. Monterey, though sitting higher at 11.3% of residents living at or below the federal definition of poverty, still comes in below the statewide poverty line.
Despite concerns of costs associated with saltwater intrusion, Calam asserts that a series of indicator wells around the slant wells will be carefully monitored. Calam is responsible for monitoring the wells and shutting down the project should intrusion start to occur.
The monitoring wells are “the canary in the coal mine,” said Monterey County Farm Bureau Executive Director Norm Groot. “There’s already a safety net in place should there be any intrusion.”
Groot, who represents the interests of the growers in Monterey County, says the agricultural community backs the project after some initial concerns. The environmental impact report’s results are what changed growers’ minds, he said.
“The intent of the project is to draw brackish water of the area of the coastal intrusion and the (environmental impact report) supports the theory that it will improve the coastal zone by removing the brackish water and allowing fresh water to fill it in,” Groot said. “The environmental studies are showing it could potentially improve the quality of water.”
“We’re very supportive of the Peninsula developing a long-term water supply system so we don’t have to go through this again in 10 years,” Groot added.
Thus far, Calam has come through the victor on all legal pushback by local communities. The project has faced nine court actions and won eight; the ninth is pending.