For years, farmers in North County have warned they are imperiled by the high rates they have to pay the San Diego County Water Authority. Concerns are particularly acute among avocado growers within the Rainbow Municipal Water District and Fallbrook Public Utility District, where about 600 growers produce about 10 percent of the state’s crop on 5,300 acres.
The detachment advisory committee San Diego’s County’s Local Agency Formation Commission created to address issues regarding the proposed detachment of the Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District from the San Diego County Water Authority has been dissolved.
Eleven years ago, when the San Diego County Water Authority was going through the final stages of approving what had, by that time, become a decade-long odyssey to create the first desalination plant on the West Coast, the agency made a prediction.
The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors held a special meeting Thursday to determine whether to file a lawsuit to keep the water districts in Fallbrook and Rainbow from leaving to join a district in Riverside County.
In the end, the board voted to enter into settlement negotiations with the Fallbrook Public Utility District and Rainbow Municipal Water District.
“We’re going to try to meet with Fallbrook and Rainbow to better understand some of the challenges they have presented through this process,” said Nick Serrano, vice chair of the Water Authority Board of Directors.
The Fallbrook and Rainbow water districts got the green light to, in effect, move north.
That will impact ratepayers in San Diego County, and it could alter the balance of power in water decisions far beyond.
Like so many contentious developments when it comes to water, this one might not be over for a while.
Rainbow and Fallbrook water districts are free to join a water system in Riverside County, after a split decision by regional policymakers Monday that would slightly lower costs for ratepayers in those districts but may raise water rates in other areas across San Diego County.
The San Diego County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, which is responsible for approving and managing changes to local jurisdictions, voted 5-3 to authorize Fallbrook Public Utility District and Rainbow Muncipal Water District to separate from the San Diego Water Authority. They plan to join Eastern Municipal Water District, which serves southern Riverside County, said Jack Bebee general manager for the Fallbrook district.
The San Diego County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), in a 5-3 vote Monday, approved the request of Fallbrook Public Utility District and Rainbow Municipal Water District to detach from the 24-member San Diego County Water Authority.
The San Diego County Local Area Formation Commission voted 5-3 on Monday to allow two rural water districts in North San Diego County to detach from the San Diego County Water Authority.
LAFCO, which is responsible for forming special public districts, did not require a vote by ratepayers and did not set a timetable for detachment of the two districts, pending further study.
The Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District, with a total of 56,000 residents, are seeking to join the Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County in hopes of securing lower-cost water for farmers.
County leaders are considering allowing the cities of Fallbrook and Rainbow to switch from San Diego County Water Authority to a water district in Riverside County.
Already paying some of the highest water bills in the nation, customers of Padre Dam Municipal Water District as well as 22 other agencies could see their rates increase even more if two North County water districts secede from the San Diego County Water Authority.
Both the Fallbrook Public Utilities District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District have been trying to leave the CWA because they say the costs for the purchased water is too high, and they can get it cheaper by joining the Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County.
