In April 2013, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that California American Water (Cal Am) had opened a request for qualifications on 1 April for the desalination element of Cal Am's Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project. Up to four design-build teams were to be shortlisted, with submissions due on 1 May 2013. The plant in Marina was sized at 24,000 to 36,000 m³/day, taking seawater from subsurface slant wells near the shore and using an existing ocean outfall for brine. The whole project was put at about US$400 million.
The report showed how closely the size of Californian desalination plants was then tied to regulatory review and to parallel groundwater recharge schemes.