California American selects CDM unit to build desal plant

California American Water (CalAm; Pacific Grove, CA) has selected CDM Constructors, Inc., a unit of CDM Smith (Cambridge, MA) to design and build a desalination plant as part of its $320 million Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project. CDM Constructors submitted a proposal of $86 million for the desalination facility job, lower than the bids of four other contending teams of contractors. The CalAm desalination plant will be much smaller than the 50 million gallon per day (mgd) plant that Poseidon Resources (Stamford, CT) is building in Carlsbad, California, but it is still deemed critical to the Monterey Peninsula area because CalAm is under a court order to stop withdrawals from the Carmel River by 2016. “The project provides a forward-thinking and environmentally sensitive approach to solving a very serious water supply shortage,” said Stephen Hickox, chairman and CEO of CDM Smith. “We understand the time constraints and have the capability to deliver the desalination project the Monterey Peninsula community needs.”