… [T]he long-awaited and contentious eminent domain case between the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District and California-American Water Company officially kicked off yesterday, Monday, Oct. 19. The trial will determine whether the district has the legal authority to take over Cal Am’s water system. The private utility provides water to roughly 100,000 people with a network of more than 680 miles of pipeline and over 100 storage tanks, regularly touted by Cal Am as one of the most complex water systems in California. … [T]he district is expected to point to its existing role in managing public water supplies; the trial may even revisit broader disagreements over water management, including Cal Am’s proposed desalination plant and projections of future water demand.