On Monday, the San Diego County Water Authority (Water Authority) filed a lawsuit seeking to protect the environment and prevent an impending, illegal water rate increase that could hurt farmers, working families, small businesses, and disadvantaged communities across the county according to the Water Authority.
The San Diego County Water Authority filed suit Monday to stop the rural Fallbrook and Rainbow water districts from leaving the county system, citing environmental harm under the California Environmental Quality Act.
The lawsuit filed in Superior Court challenges a decision by the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission to allow the two districts to join Riverside County without paying what the Water Authority says is their fair share of water-reliability investments.
The “detachment” effort is the first of its kind in California and would shift approximately $140 million in costs to the rest of the Water Authority’s customers.
The San Diego County Water Authority filed a lawsuit Monday over the proposed departure of two North County water agencies, which the water authority alleges will raise water rates for other county residents.
The lawsuit challenges a decision from the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission to allow the Rainbow Municipal Water District and Fallbrook Public Utility District to leave the Water Authority.
The San Diego County Water Authority is spending $100,000 from a state grant for a summer public outreach and educational advertising campaign to promote wider adoption of sustainable landscapes that are more suitable for the region’s Mediterranean climate.
A SDCWA statement said its “Thanks for Planting Me!” campaign offers gratitude to the hundreds of thousands of San Diegans who are using water efficiently, along with encouragement to expand regenerative, low-water landscapes.
City and county leaders Monday thanked San Diegans for taking precautions and staying at home during Tropical Storm Hilary as crews continue to assess damages caused by the storm. The region saw no loss of life caused by the weather, the leaders said Monday. San Diego Gas & Electric reported a total of 15,000 customers lost power — the vast majority of which have had power restored.
The Imperial Irrigation District has restored power to over 11,000 customers since Sunday when Tropical Storm Hilary arrived in the Coachella Valley. The agency said it received over 4,000 calls for service on Sunday and only 85 customers are still affected as of Monday night. But the storm’s initial impact on Friday night when monsoonal rains brought down 45 poles on a major transmission line and affected some 3,000 customers.
The San Diego County Water Authority today filed suit against the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, to protect the environment and to stop an imminent and illegal rate increase from harming farmers, working families, small businesses, and other water ratepayers across San Diego County.
I got some pushback recently on the idea that legislation which could stall the breakup of the San Diego County Water Authority may have trouble getting through. But it’s hardly a guaranteed success for the city of San Diego and its sponsor, Democrat Tasha Boerner from Encinitas. It needs a two-thirds vote from the state Legislature and there’s evidence that – despite strong support from labor unions – Democrats may not have all the votes they need.
The long-running debate over whether the Fallbrook and Rainbow communities should leave the San Diego County Water Authority to obtain cheaper rates ignores a very large elephant in the room — climate change.
If the two rural communities cast their lot with Riverside County, their agricultural economy will depend upon the Colorado River and the State Water Project, both of which have been reeling from increasingly severe droughts.
Legislation that could block two small districts from getting cheaper water elsewhere hit a bump in the road in Sacramento.
And a controversial hire by a water district that supplies San Diego County with water is being eyed warily by some officials.
First, the good news. The massive snowpack from the winter storms has nourished the ailing Colorado River, a major source of water for San Diego and much of the Southwest.
The bounty is such that the federal government has eased water cuts in various states. (Those reductions didn’t affect San Diego, which over the years built adequate supplies through water purchases, infrastructure projects and recycling programs — at considerable cost.)
