… In 1995, the State Water Resources Control Board issued Order 95-10, declaring that California American Water was entitled to take only 3,376 acre-feet of water a year from the Carmel River. The utility at the time was taking about 14,000 acre-feet to supply the region. … A 2009 update to the cease-and-desist order prohibited new water connections until Cal Am was pumping within its legal limit. That meant putting the pressure on conservation measures to simply use less water, and also the pursuit of a replacement water supply.  It’s the latter that today, 30 years after the original cease-and-desist order, remains a point of contention.  … There is no dispute that Cal Am has been pumping within its legal limit for the past three years, since 2021. That fact has led a number of local stakeholders to ask the state board to suspend or amend the cease-and-desist order, again allowing new water hookups, specifically development of much-needed new housing.