Monterey County’s proposed desalination plant could be delayed again. The project may be postponed as much as six months now due to a failure on the part of California American Water in securing permission to test source water for the proposed plant. As a result, the State Public Utilities Commission has ruled that the release of the draft environmental impact report, which is necessary for the project, needs to be postponed. Cal-Am says they hope to secure a permit to take water samples from bore holes on wells north of Marina by the end of next month. The delay would postpone the project’s startup date from mid-2018 to the latter half of that year.
