In November 2015, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that California American Water (CalAm) had chosen driller Boart Longyear to build seven to nine slant wells. They were to supply seawater to the desalination plant planned within CalAm's Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project, budgeted at about US$ 320 million. At roughly US$ 2.8 million per well, Boart Longyear was the cheapest of three bidders. A test well had been built earlier that year; a governance committee still had to make recommendations, and completion was planned for 2019.
The report showed slant wells for seawater intake in California moving from a trial to procurement, with the Monterey scheme gaining firm cost figures per well.