Return to
HOME PAGE

Return to Menu of
PROPOSED NEW MONTEREY COUNTY DESALINATION PLANS

From the Monterey County Herald
Serving Monterey County and the Salinas Valley

Posted on Wed, Mar. 16, 2004

County may lose prime desal site

Small agency has lease to Moss Landing property

By JOE LIVERNOIS

jlivernois@montereyherald.com

Monterey County officials hailed an agreement Tuesday that could result in a desalination plant pumping out fresh water for large sections of the county, but that plan could be in competition with a small North County water district with big desalination plans of its own.

The Pajaro-Sunny Mesa Community Services District is in the early stages of developing a large desalination plant at the old National Refractories site in Moss Landing, the same area being eyed by the county and the California-American Water Co.

Nader Agha, the Pacific Grove developer who bought the National Refractories property late last year, said Tuesday he had attempted to work with Cal-Am but instead has reached a lease agreement with the Pajaro-Sunny Mesa District.

The old refractories site, next door to the landmark Duke Energy power plant, has long been considered the prime location for any desalination project, partly because of the easy access to electricity and partly because pipes that can pump Monterey Bay water in and out of the property are already in place.

Word of the Pajaro-Sunny Mesa plans emerged Tuesday as the Monterey County Board of Supervisors was endorsing a partnership between the county's Water Resources Agency and Cal-Am to explore a desalination plant or other new sources of water that would help resolve the chronic shortage of water throughout the region.

Lack of water has led to a development moratorium in parts of North County and has stymied numerous building proposals on the Peninsula, which is serviced by the private Cal-Am.

Under the partnership agreement adopted Tuesday, the county water agency and Cal-Am will jointly seek to develop water projects to serve the Peninsula, Marina, Fort Ord and North County areas such as Moss Landing and Castroville. But officials from the Sunny Mesa district said Cal-Am and the county will be wasting their time if they expect to use the National Refractories site.

The Sunny Mesa water district was recently allowed to take over water service in sections of North County once serviced by the bankrupt Alisal Water Corp. of Salinas. Sunny Mesa and Cal-Am were both vying for the territory, but a federal judge awarded the service rights to Sunny Mesa.

Marc Del Piero, an attorney for Sunny Mesa, said the district has been trying to develop new water supplies to supplement water taken from overtaxed wells in North County.

Del Piero is a former Monterey County supervisor who also served seven years on the state Water Resources Control Board. He has taken a lead role in assembling a team of technical and financial specialists to put the district's desalination plan into action.

Sunny Mesa negotiated a tentative lease agreement on a portion of the National Refractories site two months ago and Del Piero said he expects a final lease will be signed soon.

"We'll have a lease before the county water (agency) can hold its next meeting," said Del Piero.

He said Sunny Mesa would be willing to work with county water officials and Cal-Am to produce water for the region.

"I want to make it clear that we're not the bad guys," Del Piero said. "We're trying to do the right thing for our constituents out here. We need to generate a new supply of water and the desal option seemed right. If Cal-Am needs water, they can buy it from us."

Del Piero said it is premature to say how much water a Sunny Mesa plant would produce but Agha said it would be roughly three times larger than the one proposed by Cal-Am. Cal-Am has said its primary objective is to create just enough fresh water to end the Peninsula's over-reliance on the Carmel River.

Monterey County officials said they weren't threatened by Sunny Mesa's deal with Agha. For one thing, they said they aren't certain that any new water project will involve desalination, much less a desalination plant at Agha's property.

"There are plenty of other vacant properties in Moss Landing zoned industrial," said Board Chairman Lou Calcagno.

"It's premature to select any site right now," said Curtis Weeks, who heads the county water agency. "It's not appropriate to get into that level of detail."

Supervisor Dave Potter added, "What this project is going to look like or where it will be located is very nebulous at this time."

Supervisor Edith Johnsen cast the lone "no" vote on the agreement Tuesday, saying the county should not commit to expensive ventures while the county budget is in shambles.

"Future projects like this are very overwhelming in costs and scope," she said. "These are projects that imply enormous investment that we don't have a dime to do."

Agha was not at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, but sent a letter to supervisors to complain that he and Sunny Mesa officials were not aware of the county-Cal Am partnership until reading about it in Tuesday's Herald.

"I have made a commitment to (Sunny Mesa), an outstanding, locally governed, nonprofit public agency whose sole interests are providing safe, potable water supplies at the lowest cost to the citizens of Monterey County," Agha wrote.

In an interview, Agha said he had tried to reach a lease agreement with Cal-Am but found the company too difficult to work with, largely because of its stratified bureaucracy. Cal-Am is a subsidiary of a multinational utility company based in Germany.

"They can't make a decision locally," Agha said. "They have to talk to a president in New Jersey, but he can't really do anything without the approval of the big boss in Germany."

Referring to his dealings with Sunny Mesa, Agha said, "We did more in three months than the Monterey Peninsula water board and Cal-Am did in 24 years."

He was referring to the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, which regulates Cal-Am's local operations and which has been leaning toward development of a smaller desalination plant in Sand City.

The Peninsula Water Management District has asked the supervisors to hold off on any agreement with Cal-Am, but the chairman of the district's board of directors, Alvin Edwards, retracted that request Tuesday. Edwards had essentially been chastised by other directors Monday for urging a delay without approval by the full board.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe Livernois can be reached at 753-6753.