6. Brief Description of Proposed Project and the Alternatives
As described in the FEIR, the Coastal Water Project proposal and alternatives are the result of a multi-year planning effort that has included the analysis and consideration of several alternatives in the context of several different proposed projects and related documents. The project objectives are as follows:
1. Satisfy Cal-Am's obligations to meet the requirements of SWRCB Order 95-10;
2. Diversify and create a reliable drought-proof water supply;
3. Protect the Seaside basin for long-term reliability;
4. Protect listed species in the riparian and aquatic habitat below San Clement Dam;
5. Protect the local economy from the effects of an uncertain water supply;
6. Minimize water rate increases by creating a diversified water supply portfolio;
7. Minimize energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions per unit of water delivered to the extent possible;
8. Explore opportunities for regional partnerships, consistent with D.03-09-022; and
9. Avoid duplicative facilities and infrastructure.16
The FEIR sets forth three water supply projects that have been analyzed at an equal level of detail, each of which can satisfy the objectives described above. As stated above, we do not select a particular project at this time; however, we provide a very brief description of the projects, as provided in the FEIR. As described in the FEIR, while each of the three projects would provide the majority of water required, none of the three projects that are analyzed would meet total demand on their own. There are certain other project components and measures that are assumed to be operational under all of the alternatives studied in the FEIR.
In addition to the three project options described below, the FEIR analyzes several other alternatives to the project, as well as multiple alternatives "of the project," i.e., alternatives to select elements or locations of the project. At the appropriate juncture, we will consider the selection of project alternatives. The FEIR analyzes a wide and reasonable range of alternatives to help inform that decision-making process.
6.1. Proposed Project - Moss Landing Power Plant
The Moss Landing Project would be sited on 16 acres at the Moss Landing Power Plant and would be owned and operated by Cal-Am. The proposed project includes a desalination plant sized to produce 10 million gallons per day (mgd) of desalinated water. The proposed project also includes a seawater intake system using source water supplied from the existing Moss Landing Power Plant once-through cooling water return system, an open-water brine discharge system through the Moss Landing Power Plant, and a variety of conveyance and storage facilities, including approximately 28 miles of pipeline and an aquifer storage and recovery system. The aquifer storage and recovery system consists of two existing and two proposed injection/extraction wells.17 The proposed project would produce 8,800 afy of desalinated water in non-drought years (and 10,900 afy in drought years) that would be delivered to Cal-Am's Terminal Reservoir for distribution to its customers. We note that the proposed project and the alternative projects include certain storage, delivery and distribution components that would be owned and operated by Cal-Am. Because these elements are common to all projects, these are known as "common" components.
6.2. North Marina Alternative
The North Marina alternative consists of much of the same infrastructure as described above. The North Marina alternative would also be owned and operated by Cal-Am, but the desalination plant would be sited on 10 acres at the Armstrong Ranch (near the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency) and sized to produce 11 mgd of desalinated water. The North Marina alternative utilizes a seawater intake system consisting of six new subsurface beach slant wells, an open-water brine discharge system through the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency outfall, project water conveyance and storage infrastructure, including several miles of pipeline and an aquifer storage and recovery system, as described above. The main differences between the Moss Landing Project and the North Marina alternative are location and size of the desalination plant, the intake technology, and the outfall.
The North Marina alternative would also produce 8,800 afy of desalinated water in non-drought years (and 10,900 afy in drought years) that would be delivered to Cal-Am customers. Any source water that originated from the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin (as measured by salinity) would be returned to the Basin through deliveries to the Castroville Seawater Intrusion Project (CSIP). Because modeling indicates that source water pumped from the slant wells over the long term could include a small amount of intruded groundwater from the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin, the North Marina alternative includes a provision for excess desalinated water to be returned to the Salina Valley Groundwater Basin via the CSIP's storage pond. Thus, desalinated water would be delivered to the Cal-Am Terminal Reservoir for distribution to its customers and to the CSIP pond for distribution to the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin.
6.3. Regional Project, Phase 1
Given the complexity of the water supply issues facing the Monterey Peninsula, D.03-09-022 directed Cal-Am to "thoroughly explore opportunities for partnerships with other regional water supply entities as it prepares its PEA and to incorporate such partnerships into the project, if appropriate."18 Cal-Am included a preliminary assessment of such a regional approach in its PEA. DRA built on this work and worked with the University of California, Santa Cruz, Center for Integrated Water Research to determine whether a more cost-effective and fully developed regional approach could be developed as an alternative to the proposed project. Accordingly, the Regional Project would address water supply demands within the Cal-Am service area and in other areas of northern Monterey County.
The Regional Project analyzed in the environmental documents was developed after extensive public input through the establishment of several community-based working groups, now known collectively as Water for Monterey County. The Regional Project has been envisioned as having two phases, and Phase 1 is analyzed at a level of detail consistent with the proposed project and the North Marina alternative. Due to the legal constraints on diversions from the Carmel River and the Seaside Basin, Phase 1 of the Regional Project would provide "regulatory replacement" water supply of 15,200 afy (12,500 afy to Cal-Am customers and 2,700 afy of water supply to the Ord Community); therefore, Phase 1 is the first priority for project implementation.19
Phase 1 of the Regional Project includes previously analyzed and permitted water supply projects that will be undertaken whether or not the Coastal Water Project is implemented. These projects include the Sand City desalination plant,20 the Regional Urban Water Augmentation Project,21 and two existing aquifer storage and recovery wells, as well as an additional demand offset of 1000 afy from conservation. New aspects of Phase 1 of the Regional Project that were analyzed in the environmental documents include a 10-mgd desalination plant, to be owned and operated by the MCWD and six vertical intake wells to provide source water. The desalinated water (8,800 afy in non-drought years and 10,900 afy in drought years) would be delivered to the Cal-Am Terminal Reservoir system for distribution to its customers and to the MCWD system (approximately 1,700 afy in non-drought years) for distribution to its customers.
Phase 2 of the Regional Project has been studied at a more general or programmatic level, consistent with the information that is available at this time. As explained in the FEIR, the components of Phase 2 of the Regional Project have been included for context and for informational purposes; they would not function as an alternative that would meet the project objectives and are not subject to our approval at this time.
No party disputes that there is a need to find an alternative water supply to replace Cal-Am's water supplies that are drawn from the Carmel River, in order to ensure that Cal-Am complies with both the SWRCB Order 95-10 and the Seaside Basin adjudication. The FEIR identifies the overall environmentally superior project, taking the "No-Project" analysis into consideration. To reiterate, this decision considers only whether the Commission should certify the FEIR and does not determine whether Cal-Am should be granted a CPCN or if so, whether the proposed project or an alternative project should be adopted. Certification of the FEIR does not prejudge the Commission's final selection of the project or alternative. The proposed decision addressing issuance of a CPCN is targeted for April 2010.
16 FEIR at ES-2, ES-3. The last three objectives were developed by Staff during the process of compiling the EIR.
17 The existing injection/extraction wells supply 920 afy. The proposed wells are expected to provide a long-term average of 380 afy.
18 D.03-09-022 at 12.
19 As noted in the FEIR, Cal-Am, MCWD, and MCWRA have continued to work together to refine the components of Phase 1 of the Regional Project, and the FEIR has been updated to reflect those changes. FEIR at 5-1.
20 The FEIR for the Sand City desalination plant was certified by the City of Sand City in 2005, with an addendum approved in 2007. Construction began in 2008 and the desalination plant became operational in 2004. The Sand City desalination plant will provide 300 afy.
21 The Regional Urban Water Augmentation Project was approved by the Marina Coast Water District in 2004 (with addenda in 2006 and 2009) and will provide delivery of recycled water from the Salinas Valley Reclamation Plant for urban irrigation uses.
