Water reclamation project moves forward

This week the City of Salinas won a $10 million grant to help boost the area’s water supply. It’s part of a bigger project called Pure Water Monterey.

The Pure Water Monterey Project is a collaborative effort between the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency, the city of Salinas and seven other entities. It would take different water sources – agriculture runoff, produce wash water, storm water and waste water – put it through a four-step advanced purification process and inject it back into the Seaside groundwater basin.

“Cal American, or the water purveyor, would take it out of the ground at that point and convey it to our homes and businesses and so on,” said Paul Sciuto, the general manager for MRWPCA.

The project got a boost this week, as Salinas won a multi-million dollar grant to help build its infrastructure for the project, capturing storm water.

“So this $10 million will allow us to capture about 25% of the runoff for the city of Salinas, in mostly the south areas,” said Gary Peterson, Salinas public works director. “This grant will also allow us to start to capture the reclamation ditch, which is drained irrigation and agricultural irrigation water, but also storm water and creek water that runs through Carr Lake.”

Groundbreaking on the $85 million project is expected next spring. The entire project should be online in 2018. Once it’s up and running, Pure Water Monterey could supply 3,500 acre feet for drinking water and an additional 4,400 for growers.

Despite where the water is coming from, it’s all the same.

“It’s good water, it tastes good, it’s clear, it’s clean,” Peterson said. “The science is there. People have trouble with the psychology of it sometimes, but really, water’s water.”

“There aren’t different types of water, it’s just one water and how we can best utilize it,” Sciuto said. “Water shouldn’t be judged by its history, but by its quality.”