CPUC to Vote on July 24
Tell the CPUC their 2050 Water Demand Forecast for the Monterey Peninsula is WRONG. They need to correct it to protect ratepayers from expensive unnecessary water projects. YOUR comment is very important. If the CPUC decides on a falsely inflated 25-year demand, it will be used to justify Cal Am’s desal, which will raise our water bills 50% to 70%.
POST COMMENTS HERE: CPUC Proceeding A2111024
You may also call in on July 24 at 11:00 am to make a one-minute comment by phone. Dial 800 857-1917, enter passcode 9899501# and press *star 1 to get in line to speak.
CPUC Water Supply and Demand Decision
On July 24, after years of hearings, the CPUC will finally vote on how much water they believe the Peninsula will need 25 years from now. This decision serves as the basis for determining whether Cal Am’s desal plant is needed.
Based on Cal Am’s falsely inflated demand forecast, the CPUC’s proposed decision claims the Peninsula will use 13,732 acre-feet per year (AFY) by 2050. The Monterey Peninsula currently uses approximately 9,000 acre-feet (AF) of water per year, so that would be a 50% increase. Our population would have to grow by 50% in the next 25 years to use that much water. That kind of growth has never happened on the Peninsula and is clearly impossible. The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) population and job growth forecast for 2050 is 11%. How does 11% growth in population result in 50% more water use? It doesn’t.
Cal Am inflated demand to justify an unneeded and environmentally destructive desal plant. They did this by triple counting. Cal Am’s Urban Water Management Plan used AMBAG’s population forecast, but then Cal Am added empty lots and houses claiming these use water in addition to the people who live in them. They don’t. Only the people living in the house on the lot use water.
The CPUC is ignoring the preponderance of evidence. In this proceeding, the Public Advocates Office, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, the Marina Coast Water District, the City of Marina, and Public Water Now all presented evidence that the accurate 2050 demand forecast is between 10,600 AFY and 11,200 AFY. The evidence included three demand forecasts done by experts in long-term water planning. But the CPUC ignored these experts and adopted an inflated demand forecast that contains over 2,000 AF of demand that does not exist. The CPUC’s 2050 demand forecast should be corrected to no more than 11,200 AFY. Peninsula ratepayers already pay extreme water bills and cannot afford to pay for a mistake of this magnitude.
Decades of water shortage on the Peninsula are over!
The Cease and Desist Order (CDO) and moratorium on new water hookups have blocked new housing and development on the Peninsula since 2009. But the reason for the CDO was to stop illegal over drafting of the Carmel River. Thanks to Pure Water Monterey, pumping on the Carmel River has not exceeded its legal limit of 3,376 AFY since December 2021. The State Water Board should lift the CDO.
With the Pure Water Monterey Expansion, we will have over 12,000 AF of annual supply. That is more than enough water for growth over the next 25 years. This year, the Peninsula used less than 9,000 AF. Our water use per person is one of the lowest in the state. In addition to the 12,000 AF of annual supply, we also have a surplus of 5,866 AF stored for drought in the Seaside Basin. And that storage will continue to increase when the Pure Water Monterey Expansion begins operation at the end of the year.
By next year, we will have plenty of water for growth, but with the CDO still in place, we can’t use it. To solve this problem the Water Management District is working with the State Water Board to lift the CDO. But Cal Am is fighting to keep the CDO in place because lifting it undermines their case for desal.
Cal Am’s Desal is Not Needed
The Commission approved Cal Am’s desal plant in 2018, but since then much has changed. Demand for water has dropped due to cost and conservation, and thousands of AF of new water supply have been developed. Cal Am’s desal would raise water bills by 50% to 70%. When the cost of water goes up, demand goes down. There’s clearly no market for the 5,300 to 6,200 AFY that Cal Am’s desal would produce. But Cal Am continues to ignore this reality in pursuit of profit.
Melodie Chrislock
Managing Director, Public Water Now