National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Proponents Environmental Assessment (PEA)
Reverse osmosis (RO)
Storm Water Regional Control Board (SWRCB)
Transportation Authority for Monterey County (TAMC)
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD)
Definitions
Aquifer - Water bearing rock, also referred to as a natural pool or reservoir of water found in rock formations.
Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) - Method of making use of existing natural aquifers to store excess water to be available or recovered at a time when water is scarce.
Coastal Water Project - Term to refer to the proposed desalination project by California American Water to replace the 10,730 AFY from the Carmel River and the 1,000 AFY for the Seaside aquifer.
Brine - Water saturated with or containing large amounts of salt. Often used for reject water, the water that is discharged after the reverse osmosis process of desalination.
Desalination - The process of removing salts (and other chemicals) from saline water, most commonly, sea or ocean water.
Reverse osmosis (RO) - Process used for desalination involving saline water being forced through semi-permeable membrane, which separates the salt from the water.
Units/Conversions
One acre-foot is equal to 325,850 gallons which is approximately a football field one foot deep in water.
An acre-foot of water is the approx annual
usage by 3 to 4 average households.
One acre-foot per year equals an average daily use of approx 900 gallons.
One million gallons equals 3.07 acre-foot of water.
