CPUC decision delay on Monterey water supply
Tomorrow, June 26, the California Public Utilities Commission was scheduled to adopt a proposed decision regarding the Monterey Peninsula’s current water supply and forecasted demand by 2050. And after already being rescheduled from the June 12 CPUC meeting by Commissioner Darcie Houck, who’s presiding over the matter, on June 24 Houck pulled it from the agenda again and rescheduled it until July 24, the CPUC’s next meeting. … The talking points discussed were a rehashing of Cal Am’s disagreement with the proposed decision, which projected a 2050 water demand of 13,732 acre-feet per year—the number Cal Am had been pushing for, and far higher than five outside estimates—and a current water supply of 11,204 acre-feet per year, which Cal Am thinks is too high. Cal Am officials also reiterated why they think the demand numbers are correct. Water demand on the Peninsula last year dipped below 9,000 acre-feet, the lowest level in decades, and the proposed decision presumes it will increase more than 4,500 acre-feet over the next 25 years.