SAN JOSE, Calif., April 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- California Water Service (Cal Water) announced today that it has received a $4,274,800 grant from the State Department of Water Resources (DWR) to connect several disadvantaged communities’ systems near Middlefield Road in the Salinas Valley with Cal Water’s Salinas District system.

“We are committed to protecting our customers’ health and safety, but not all communities have access to a clean, reliable water supply,” said Marty Kropelnicki, Cal Water President and CEO. “We thank the Department of Water Resources for providing the funding to connect the struggling systems around Middlefield Road to our Cal Water Salinas system and make this important project a reality. We look forward to the opportunity to provide them the safe, reliable, affordable water supply everyone should have.”

The grant, part of DWR’s Small Community Drought Relief Program, will be used to consolidate 195 customer connections in Gabilan, Lagunita, Trihorn, Livingston, Morris, and Martin with the Cal Water system. Grant funding will go toward engineering, design, environmental mitigation, construction, and other related costs to install about 7,300 feet of water main and extend water service to the communities.

Cal Water also partnered with the Rural Community Assistance Corps, which worked on behalf of the communities through the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) program, to secure the grant. Cal Water expects to complete the project by the second quarter of 2025.

About California Water ServiceCalifornia Water Service provides high-quality, reliable water utility services to about 2 million people statewide through 494,500 service connections. What sets Cal Water apart is its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for its customers and communities. Guided daily by their promise to provide quality, service, and value, the utility’s employees lead the way in working to protect the planet, care for people, and operate with the utmost integrity. Integral to Cal Water’s strategy is investing responsibly in infrastructure, sustainability initiatives, and community well-being. The utility has been named one of “America’s Most Responsible Companies” and “America’s Most Trustworthy Companies” by Newsweek and a Great Place to Work®. More information is available at www.calwater.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Act"). The forward-looking statements are intended to qualify under provisions of the federal securities laws for "safe harbor" treatment established by the Act. Forward-looking statements in this news release are based on currently available information, expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections, and management's beliefs, assumptions, judgments, and expectations about Group and its subsidiaries, the water utility industry and general economic conditions. These statements are not statements of historical fact. When used in our document, statements that are not historical in nature, including words like will, promise, commitment, strategy, would, expects, intends, plans, believes, may, could, estimates, assumes, anticipates, projects, predicts, forecasts, targets, seeks, should, or variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They are based on numerous assumptions that Group believes are reasonable but are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from what is contained in a forward-looking statement. Factors that may cause actual results to be different than those expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to: ability to integrate the business and operate the Middlefield Road systems in an effective and accretive manner; natural disasters, public health crises, pandemics, epidemics or outbreaks of a contagious disease, such as the outbreak of coronavirus (or COVID‐19); governmental and regulatory commissions' decisions, including decisions on proper disposition of property; consequences of eminent domain actions relating to our water systems; changes in regulatory commissions' policies and procedures; the timeliness of regulatory commissions' actions concerning rate relief and other actions; changes in water quality standards; changes in environmental compliance and water quality requirements; electric power interruptions; housing and customer growth trends; the impact of opposition to rate increases; our ability to recover costs; availability of water supplies; issues with the implementation, maintenance or security of our information technology systems; civil disturbances or terrorist threats or acts; the adequacy of our efforts to mitigate physical and cyber security risks and threats; the ability of our enterprise risk management processes to identify or address risks adequately; labor relations matters as we negotiate with unions; changes in customer water use patterns and the effects of conservation; the impact of weather, climate, natural disasters, and diseases on water quality, water availability, water sales and operating results, and the adequacy of our emergency preparedness; and other risks and unforeseen events. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the cautionary statements included in this paragraph, as well as the Annual 10-K, Quarterly 10-Q, and other reports filed by Group from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Group is under no obligation, and assumes no obligation, to provide public updates of forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact: Yvonne Kingman, 310-257-1434