Public Input Meeting for Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Autho - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

MONTEREY, Calif. -- The Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority is having an open meeting Thursday night to get public input on the desalination project.

They are going to hear presentations on each of the three possible desal projects from Cal-Am's Regional Desalination Project, the People's Moss Landing Project and the Deep Water Desal project.

Recommendations will also be heard from independent consultants like the Technical Advisory Committee and the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. The Water Authority hopes the testimonies will help them decide which project to go with.  

The Water Authority said they came up with an idea for Cal-Am's proposal. They want to use $100 million in public contribution money to help finance the desal project with a smaller interest rate, hoping they could save $124 million on the project. Cal-Am and the Water Authority estimate the money saved per customer could be around $1,000.

The Water Authority said the public contribution money would most likely from the Water Peninsula Management District. The $100 million would be used to help fund the three-pronged Cal-Am proposal which includes a smaller desal plant.

The meeting is at Monterey City Hall and begins at 7:00 p.m.