In the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s pursuit of buying out California American Water’s system on the Monterey Peninsula, a small but notable victory was meted out Oct. 25 with a ruling from Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills.

The ruling came out of a lawsuit the district filed against the Local Agency Formation Commission of Monterey County in April 2022, centered around a decision LAFCO’s board made in December 2021 in which the board voted 5-2 to deny granting the district the “latent powers” to be a retail water provider.