1. Portfolio 3A was selected for further work, not approved as a set of projects. At its August 13 meeting, the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency board selected Portfolio 3A as its preferred Integrated Implementation Strategy, with nine ayes on an 11-member board. The action incorporated considerations from the advisory committee and two subbasin committees. Staff emphasized that it approved no individual projects: final sizes, locations, water recipients, and the balance between injection and deliveries to municipal users remain undecided.
2. OceanWell presented an early-stage alternative water source. Tim Quinn described OceanWell Water’s concept for reverse-osmosis pods roughly 1,500 feet below the ocean surface. Quinn projected energy costs about 40% below those of onshore ocean desalination. For a proposed Southern California project, OceanWell estimated costs of $2,000–$3,000 per acre-foot delivered to shore; it has not established a Monterey Bay price or a cost comparison with the proposed brackish-groundwater project. No commercial-scale water farm is operating. OceanWell plans an anchored demonstration in Hawaii in 2026 and targets commercial viability in 2028. Members asked about pumping power, pod manufacturing, membrane life, and potential permitting challenges in Monterey Bay’s protected waters. Staff did not recommend the concept.
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