• Cal-Am, Cemex reach agreement on test well site

    California American Water and CEMEX have entered into an agreement that will clear the way for California American Water to access CEMEX’s property for a test well.  The agreement allows the water company access to portions of the cement producer’s property in North Marina where intake wells for the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project seawater desalination facility are planned. The agreement allows California American Water to drill and operate a test well on the CEMEX site and, if the results are positive, to later purchase the permanent easements needed to construct and operate intake wells. The agreement comes after months of extended talks between the two parties over the precise location of the test well and the terms of an agreement.

    “We wish to thank CEMEX for their efforts in this matter. Securing the test-well site is a major step forward for this project,” said Ian Crooks, California American Water’s Engineering Manager. “We worked hard to gain access to this site, as the next best location is more than 5 miles further away, and would have resulted in approximately $14 million in additional project costs.  We are pleased to be able to move forward on this site and keep the project cost lower than it could have otherwise been,” he added.

    California American Water has been ordered to reduce its diversions from the area’s primary source of water, the Carmel River, by the California State Water Resources Control Board, which has issued a stringent cutback schedule on withdrawals from the river. The Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project is the company’s plan for an alternative water supply that will allow river pumping reductions to take place while still meeting the community’s water demand.

    Once completed, the test well could run for up to two years with larger scale project permitting and design work taking place simultaneously.

    For more information on this and other news and updates about this project, please visit the project website at http://www.watersupplyproject.org.

    posted to Cedar Street Times on November 7, 2014

    Topics: Front PG News, Water

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