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Monterey County says new water policy tied to Pure Water expansion can free up development
Summary
Director Craig Spencer said the county approved a water-allocation policy that uses Pure Water expansion supplies and allows the county to release water allocations at no cost to qualifying projects, removing a key constraint on building.
Monterey County officials said a recently adopted water-allocation policy linked to the Pure Water expansion will let the county release water to developments that had been constrained by supply limits.
"Within the last two weeks we actually did have a water policy passed," said Craig Spencer, director of the county's Department of Housing and Community Development. He said the allocation came from a special water management district and that the county set policy criteria governing who receives that water and under what circumstances.
Spencer described the practical effect: "We can provide the water for free to people provided they meet the criteria in this policy," which he said should remove one barrier to building homes on vacant lots or to constructing multi-unit projects where lack of water had stalled development.
The director emphasized the county did not draft the water technical solution itself; rather, the policy defines the process by which the county releases water the special district made available. Officials said they will continue to monitor and tweak the policy as needed.
County leaders said the move is intended to help reduce a specific constraint on housing supply, but they did not provide eligibility thresholds, project counts or fiscal implications during the briefing.
