BACKGROUND

Sand City is one of a number of Monterey Peninsula cities impacted by limited water resources. Regional efforts to address this issue have encountered difficulties, both financial and political, for more than twenty years. Due to this historic lack of progress, Sand City decided to implement its own water project in cooperation with this region’s public water utility – California American Water Company (Cal-Am).

Project Details

The Sand City Desalination Project is a 300 acre-feet per year (AFY) reverse osmosis (RO) desalination facility; or more specifically, a brackish water treatment plant. The system includes 4 brackish water feed wells, a concentrate disposal well and associated pipelines and appurtenances. Planning and development was initiated in the late 1990’s as a means of providing the City with a source of potable water independent from the Monterey Peninsula supply. Sand City’s current needs are only 94 AFY, so the remaining 206 AFY is for future development, redevelopment, and use as specified in the City’s General Plan, Redevelopment Plan and Local Coastal Plan.

The project design includes features to avoid adverse environmental effects to coastal resources, including marine organisms, groundwater supplies, and sensitive habitat areas. The capacity of the facility allows for recovery and freshwater recharge of the shallow, brackish groundwater aquifer. In addition, “reject” water (concentrate) from the treatment facility does not exceed the approximate salinity of seawater and is very similar in chemical composition. Injection of the concentrate in a below sea-level horizontal well beneath the coastal bluff does not substantially alter the existing, naturally occurring seawater/freshwater interface, or result in localized salinity increases in Monterey Bay.

Operation/Maintenance

In order to provide maximum operational efficiency and minimizing expenses, the City arranged a lease and management agreement with the Cal-Am. Cal-Am utilizes water produced from the desalination plant to reduce their current pumping from the Carmel River and the Seaside Groundwater Basin. As redevelopment in Sand City progresses, the City will recoup use of that water as needed.

For more information visit: Sand City Water Supply Project