Abundant winter rain, combined with an enhanced well rehabilitation and maintenance program, has resulted in a record-breaking season for California American Water’s (CAW) Monterey water system. More than 1,650 acre-feet (540 million gallons) of water have been injected into the aquifer storage to date, surpassing 2010/11 by more than 500 acre-feet.
“We continue to inject water at a rate of 4,300 gallons per minute, and with continuing rainfall in the Carmel River watershed, we expect to end this year with 2,500 acre-feet in the aquifer,” said Bowen Kendrick, CAW’s Monterey Production Supervisor. “This water will sustain us through the dry summer months. The challenge I’ve laid down for my operations team is to be ready when the Monterey pipeline is completed and our aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) injection capacity increases by 1,000 acre-per year.”
The Monterey pipeline will support higher injection and extraction rates by providing a transmission conduit through Seaside, Monterey and Pacific Grove to CAW’s large storage facility at Forest Lake.
According to Chris Cook, CAW’s Engineering Manager. “The 36-inch pipeline will allow higher flow rates through what has been a restrictive grid, improving hydraulics and efficiency for ASR and other supply sources that make up the Water Supply Project.”
