In April 2019, the Monterey Herald reported that the Monterey County planning commission would hold a hearing the following week on the California American Water (Cal Am) desalination plant north of Marina. The roughly 24,200 m³/d facility was to treat brackish water drawn by slant wells at the CEMEX site using reverse osmosis. The plant itself was put at US$132 million, the wider supply project at US$400 million. County staff recommended approval. Cal Am had to start construction by September and supply water before the close of 2021.
The report showed the long-disputed Monterey Peninsula project facing another permitting step, with a state deadline to reduce withdrawals from the Carmel River setting the pace of the schedule.