Deliver Your News to the World

California American Water Awarded $1 Million State Grant for Desalination Test Well


P AC IFIC GROVE, Calif. – WEBWIRE

California American Water’s desalination test well project has been selected to receive a $1-million Proposition 50 grant by the California Department of Water Resources. The grant will help pay for the installation of an approximately $4-million slant test well, which is intended to prove the viability of beach wells as feed-water for the company’s Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project. One million dollars is the maximum award for which the test well project was eligible.

Proposition 50, the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water and Coastal and Beach Protection Act, is a $3.4 billion bond passed by voters in 2002, which allocates $50 million in grants for brackish water and ocean water desalination projects throughout the state.

“Thisaward provides a direct financial benefit to our customers,” said California American Water President Robert Mac Lean. “The test well project is not only important for the future of the Monterey Peninsula’s water supply; it also tests technology which is critical to the future of desalination as an alternative water source for our state.”

The Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project is a multi-sourced approach to solving the Monterey Peninsula’s perennial water shortage and reducing pumping from the Carmel River. The largest component of the project is a desalination plant that would draw seawater from slant wells that are buried in the sand and which extend beneath the ocean floor. Slant wells, also called “subsurface intakes,” are the preferred technology of California permitting agencies including the State Water Resources Control Board and the California Coastal Commission. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently issued guidelines for desalination projects within the sanctuary and directed any project proponent to pursue subsurface intakes wherefeasible.

For more information on this and other news and updates about this project, please visit the project website atwww.watersupplyproject.org.

California American Water, a subsidiary of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), provides high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 600,000 people.

Founded in 1886, American Water Works Company is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs approximately 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 14 million people in more than 30 states, and parts of Canada. More information can be found by visitingwww.amwater.com.

###



WebWireID190698





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.