City votes to join California desalination project

The city council of Pacific Grove in California voted on 18 April 2012 to establish a public agency relationship with Nader Agha of Desal America to be lead agency for a seawater desalination plant.

Pacific Grove currently obtains most of its water from a distribution system operated by California American Water Company (Cal Am), which draws the water from the Carmel river. Cal Am has been told to reduce this abstraction by 60% by the end of 2016.

Cal Am is due to present a plan on 23 April 2012 to replace its own abandoned desalination project to serve Monterey, which it was undertaking with Marina Coast Water District and Monterey County Water Resources Agency.

The Desal America plan is for a desalination plant at Moss Landing halfway between Monterey and Santa Cruz, a city which is also talking about building its own desalination plant. Pacific Grove, which adjoins Monterey, has an offer from Desal America to assist it at all stages of the process and pay any and all costs involved. It will also assist the city in raising the funds necessary to build and – eventually – own this facility.

Once built, says the council, such a facility could be sold for substantial sums of money, leased out on an ongoing basis or operated in a profitable manner that could provide substantial revenue to the city every year.