5. California-American Water
Company's Monterey District

Cal-Am is a Class A investor-owned water utility, regulated by this Commission. Its Monterey District serves most of the Monterey Peninsula, including Carmel-by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Sand City, and Seaside, as well as the unincorporated areas of Carmel Highlands, Carmel Valley, Pebble Beach, and the Del Monte Forest.

Cal-Am supplies the Monterey District with surface water and groundwater from the Carmel River System and the coastal subarea of the Seaside Groundwater Basin (also known as the Seaside Basin). Cal-Am also operates three small independent water systems along the Highway 68 corridor east of Monterey that draw water from the Laguna Seca subarea of the Seaside Basin.

Water supply has long been constrained due to frequent drought conditions on the semi-arid Monterey Peninsula, which obtains its water supply solely from rainfall. In addition, as described in the FEIR, seawater intrusion and excess diversion have existed for decades, first identified in the late 1930s and documented by the State of California in 1946.¹³

There have been several disputed attempts to solve the water issues on the Monterey Peninsula, as we discuss below.

¹³ FEIR at 5-1.