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Welcome to the
Monterey Water Facts Web Site!
This Web site contains useful information about local water issues, tips on conservation and California American Water’s Coastal Water Project.
We hope you find this Web site useful and informative. If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail us at info@montereywaterfacts.com | |
View our award winning video on Preserving the Carmel River. |
Preserving Monterey’s Most Precious Resource
Where does the water come from when you turn on your tap, and how can you be sure it will always be there?
Here on the Monterey Peninsula, those questions are not as simple as they seem.
We live in an arid climate, with no more than 20 inches of rain a year (that’s more than Saudi Arabia or Phoenix, but less than Dallas or Miami.) And when the rain does fall from our skies, it only falls in the winter, which means the water has to be stored someplace so we don’t run out in the summer.
For decades, that storage has been mostly behind two small dams in Carmel Valley, and in the aquifer beneath the Carmel River. But since the mid-1990s, even those modest reservoirs have been put off limits by concerns about water rights and endangered species.
That’s why California American Water is striving to develop a new water project — one that will be drought-proof and won’t harm the environment. Our solution is called the Coastal Water Project, and it’s a combination of desalination and underground storage. Finding a sustainable water supply is essential for the residents who live here, for the economic well being of the community, and for the health of the Carmel River and the species that live in it.
Every year, it is essential that we continue using water wisely to meet the Peninsula’s water needs. Until we have a permanent, drought-proof water supply, we must all work together to protect our most precious resource: water.
Please browse the menu on the left to learn more, or view
California American Water’s recent Update from General Manager
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