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The 1^st District Court of Appeal today issued a ruling in favor of the San Diego County Water Authority on key points in its lawsuits against the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  The County Water Authority has charged that MWD rates charged are illegal. The case is expected to be appealed to the California Supreme Court, where if upheld it would mean a big win for San Diego County ratepayers.

 

A Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) Wednesday in a key rate case against the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California. According to a statement released by the Water Authority, the court ruled MWD collected millions of dollars’ in illegal charges from ratepayers in San Diego. The Water Authority is also entitled to tens of thousands of acre-feet more water from the district than it had calculated, according to the ruling.

 

A $42 million project that doubled the capacity of an innovative groundwater desalination plant in Chula Vista is now complete, another big step for a region in dire need of diversification of its water supply. The expansion doubles the facility’s production of drinking water from 5 million gallons a day to 10 million by adding five new wells. The drought-resistant water source — brackish, or saline, groundwater that’s been cleaned using reverse-osmosis technology — will be shared evenly between the Sweetwater Authority and the city of San Diego, which split the costs of the project not covered by $31 million in state and federal grants.

The Metropolitan Water District of California has authorized the preliminary design to replace the wastewater system at Lake Mathews. A May 9 MWD board vote authorized the preliminary design process, appropriated $350,000 for that phase, and found the preliminary design phase to be categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review. The preliminary design activity will include data collection, resource evaluation activities, and potential inspections. In the late 1930s MWD built the Colorado River Aqueduct which runs from Parker to Lake Mathews, and MWD’s Colorado River supply is distributed from Lake Mathews.

A multi-million-dollar expansion means millions of more gallons of clean drinking water for San Diego’s South Bay.  The Sweetwater Authority dedicated the expansion of its Richard A. Reynolds Groundwater Desalination Facility Thursday. The $42 million expansion doubles the plant’s output to 10 million gallons of water a day.  Sweetwater Authority had to dig five new wells for the desal plant, which is located in Chula Vista. “It’s a day to celebrate,” said Sweetwater’s Director of Engineering Ron Mosher.