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Insider News from the Chamber’s Leadership Luncheon - Part One
Upcoming editions of Prosperity Update will summarize comments of numerous local government officials who participated on September 5, 2024 in your Chamber’s 22nd Annual Leadership Luncheon, presented by California Resources Corporation. Perhaps because of the excitement of an election year, so many people registered for this event that the Portola Hotel & Spa had to roll out a few extra tables to get everyone seated. In the end, we fit everyone in!
Before your Chamber asked government officials to answer our questions, the audience heard from keynote speaker State Senator John Laird. Senator Laird talked about the status of legislation at the state capitol — including his own legislation — but also focused on a lessor-known aspect of his job: “using the authority of the office to bring people together, occasionally knock heads, and come up with solutions.” He cited four specific situations in which he brought Monterey County residents together to solve problems. We thought you would be interested in reading about these “behind-the-scenes” activities.
1. More Transit Options To and From the Monterey Peninsula - A broad coalition of local organizations was disappointed when the California Coastal Commission initially recommended against approval of a permit for the fully-funded Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) SURF! Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane adjacent to Highway 1 between Marina and Seaside. Senator Laird noted how this project would benefit commuters who live in Salinas, patients at the Veterans Administration-Department of Defense (VA-DoD) Outpatient Clinic in Marina, and students at California State University, Monterey Bay. A four-hour meeting organized by his office with Coastal Commission staff and local transportation agency officials resulted in a positive development: “We still have hurdles, a few conditions, we need to get the federal deadline [a funding condition] extended, but the Coastal Commission now recommends approval.”
(Your Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce has long supported the SURF! BRT project with letters and public comments at various meetings. The California Coastal Commission will vote on a permit for this project on Thursday, September 12, 2024 at its meeting at the Portola Hotel & Spa in Downtown Monterey. See the staff report for meeting agenda items 8e and 9: SURF! BRT: Approval with Conditions. If you would like to speak at this meeting, contact Monica Lal at (831) 648-5350 or at monica@montereychamber.com).
2. Providing an Adequate Supply of Water for Future Housing and Business Growth - Inadequate water supply has long been a dominant fact of life on the Monterey Peninsula. This grew even more acute in 1995 when the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) determined that California American Water Company (Cal Am) had been extracting much more water from the Carmel Valley Alluvial Aquifer than it had the rights to take. For numerous reasons, regional leaders continued struggling to develop a sufficient replacement water supply to eliminate unauthorized diversions from the Carmel River. In 2009, SWRCB imposed a “Cease and Desist Order” to force local action. Among the directives in this order was a ban on installation of additional water meters that would result in increased water use. This discourages new housing construction and business growth.
In 2024, Cal Am is no longer extracting water beyond its rights. So when it would be appropriate for the state to lift the Cease and Desist Order? On July 25, 2024, Senator Laird convened a meeting in Monterey with SWRCB officials and representatives of a diverse set of local influential organizations (including your Chamber) to discuss a path toward revoking the Cease and Desist Order. Senator Laird prefers to focus on water supply and demand in 2025, rather than basing the decision on speculative projections for 2055 and 2065.
Senator Laird said he was criticized by people who were not invited to the meeting, but he noted that grandstanding is not an effective way to reach solutions. By the way, your Chamber officially supports achievement of a long-term sustainable water supply through a “three-legged stool” portfolio approach of water supply projects (recycled water, desalination, and aquifer storage and recovery.
3. Restoring Big Sur Prosperity With Full Opening of Highway 1 - Senator Laird convened a meeting of representatives of Assemblywoman Dawn Addis, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol (CHP), Cal Fire, and Caltrans to try to reopen Highway 1 between the Monterey Peninsula and Big Sur beyond a limited convoy operating at restricted times and directions each day. He was even able to get Governor Newsom involved to help find a solution. It worked. Full access was restored by Memorial Day weekend. Big Sur businesses were pleased. (Note that Highway 1 will remain closed through the winter between a location south of Big Sur and north of where Hearst Castle is located.)
4. Dam Safety and Adequate Water Supply for the Salinas Valley - There are two reservoirs owned and operated by Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) on the border of Monterey County and San Luis Obispo County. These reservoirs (Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio) supply water for the Salinas Valley, including irrigation water for the Castroville Seawater Intrusion Project. (Lake Nacimiento also supplies water to Northern San Luis Obispo County.) In 2017, following the near failure of the massive Lake Oroville dam, the California Division of Safety of Dams asked MCWRA to assess the condition of the spillway at its Lake San Antonio dam. A 2018 report found significant foundation and structural deficiencies. The state told MWRA that “every effort must be made to restore the full function of the spillway by November 1, 2024.”
MCWRA tried to fund this expensive project, estimated in July 2024 to cost at least $51 million. This “one check” strategy wasn’t working. Senator Laird worked with interested parties on developing and implementing an alternative strategy: piecing together funding from many different sources to obtain the amount needed to complete the San Antonio Dam Spillway Replacement Project. (An extension from the Division of Safety of Dams will be needed at this point.)
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