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On Wednesday, a state appeals court expressed skepticism about a San Diego County Water Authority’s court victory over the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. At stake is up to $7.4 billion in San Diego ratepayer money. The Water Authority’s earlier victory is “in jeopardy,” according to the Daily Journal. Last year, a San Francisco judge handed the Water Authority a major win by ruling that Metropolitan, which supplies most of San Diego’s water, had been overcharging the Water Authority to deliver some water from the Colorado River. The two water agencies are locked in a series of expensive and high-stakes legal and political battles.

The first part of this article, about the current water situation in the state, will run this week. Part II will talk about the Metropolitan Water District’s general manager, Jeffrey Kightlinger, defending his agency from accusations made by one of its member agencies, the San Diego County Water Authority. Although this article was written for our sister publication, the Valley Roadrunner, we felt that the regional issues are of enough pertinence to Escondido to reprint the article in this publication.

The first part of this article, about the current water situation in the state, ran last week. This week, the Metropolitan Water District’s general manager, Jeffrey Kightlinger, defends his agency from accusations made by one of its member agencies, the San Diego County Water Authority.After his remarks on the state of water delivery in California, Kightlinger took up the issues that the San Diego County Water Authority (the “Authority”) has been making, with representatives of both agencies dogging each other’s trails as they speak before different agency boards throughout the Southland.

The California Coastal Commission Wednesday unanimously approved a modified permit for San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, saving the city nearly $2 billion, according to local officials. “The Coastal Commission’s vote validates that San Diego is a true steward of the environment,” Mayor Kevin Faulconer said. “The commission recognizes our efforts to protect the ocean, efficiently operate city facilities and invest ratepayer dollars into infrastructure that will provide a reliable water source for our city.” Without the modified permit, converting the plant for secondary treatment capabilities would have cost $1.8 billion.