The Fallbrook Public Utility District held a Nov. 10 tour of the Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project.
All five FPUD board members participated in the tour. If a majority of board members are present, an activity must be noticed as a public meeting, and members of the public were also invited to join the tour.
On June 5, 1922, the Fallbrook Public Utility District was incorporated. FPUD has begun the process of planning for the district’s 100th anniversary.
During FPUD’s Oct. 27 board meeting a 5-0 vote created an ad hoc committee which will engage in more detailed planning activities. The board also approved an agreement with Jeff Crider to research and write a book on the history of FPUD.
The Fallbrook Public Utility District will be repeating the bid process for granular activated carbon treatment system equipment. A 5-0 FPUD board vote Oct. 27 rejected both bids submitted earlier in the month and directed district staff to readvertise the procurement of the treatment equipment for bid.
A presentation at the Oct. 26 Fallbrook Public Utility District board meeting outlined the process of setting calendar year 2021 rates. The presentation was a nonvoting item, but the FPUD board members expressed no objection to the schedule.
The painting and coating of the Fallbrook Public Utility District’s 2.8-million-gallon reservoir in De Luz will be performed by Simpson Sandblasting. A 5-0 FPUD board vote Monday, Oct. 26, approved a contract with Simpson Sandblasting for the Fontana company’s bid of $648,274.
Fallbrook, Calif. – The Fallbrook Public Utility District has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of America and Canada (GFOA).
The certificate is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting. Its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management, according to GFOA.
Unforeseen conditions caused a change order to the Fallbrook Public Utility District contract to replace the pipeline along Winter Haven Road, but it was the only change order needed in the contract to replace approximately 2,570 feet of pipeline.
The Fallbrook Public Utility District’s professional services contract for the Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use Project has been amended.
Thank you for your support over the past two years. It’s been an honor to serve as the chair of the Water Authority’s Board of Directors. While some may not realize it, this 36-member Board plays a critical role in sustaining San Diego County’s quality of life and economy.
And I’m pleased to say that this Board engages in the difficult discussions and decisions to make sure our children and grandchildren enjoy the same safe and secure water supplies that we enjoy today. Unfortunately, it’s also true that efforts are underway that would undermine decades of successful planning that has served our county well from Fallbrook to San Ysidro.
This week, the Water Authority filed a formal response to address a proposal by the Fallbrook and Rainbow water districts to detach from the Water Authority and annex into Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County. These proposals would increase costs for water ratepayers in San Diego County, reduce the county’s voting power, and decrease water supply reliability for farms and residents.
Our detailed filing with the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) spells out how the Fallbrook and Rainbow detachment proposals contain significant areas of misleading or incomplete information that must be addressed before LAFCO and all of the interested parties countywide can understand the full scope of impacts that would be created by detachment. The LAFCO process is expected to take at least another year.
As proposed by Fallbrook and Rainbow, the detachments would allow Fallbrook and Rainbow to avoid paying for water supplies and infrastructure that have been developed in collaboration with those agencies and are currently being used by those agencies to meet their customers’ needs. Abandoning those cost obligations would force other ratepayers countywide to cover their portion of the bills already incurred for decades of investments in supply reliability.
Our agency’s analysis shows that detachment, as proposed, would reduce water reliability and increase risk for Rainbow and Fallbrook customers, create environmental impacts that haven’t been studied, and impair the successful long-term planning efforts that have served our county well. And it would give Riverside County water agencies more control over San Diego County’s water future, including water rate and property tax impacts. The Water Authority’s formal response to the Fallbrook/Rainbow reorganization proposals and related documents are at www.sdcwa.org/lafco-reorganization.
It’s critical that LAFCO and all the interested parties across San Diego County take the time to address the full scope of consequences created by these unprecedented proposals so we avoid unintended harm to our region. The Water Authority, its member agencies and regional planning agencies such as SANDAG have worked together for more than 75 years to provide this region with safe and reliable water supplies. Trying to turn back the clock now is a costly, difficult process with numerous impacts to Fallbrook and Rainbow customers and across the region.
As we transition to the new Board leadership in October, I trust that you will give incoming Chair Gary Croucher and Vice Chair Christy Guerin the same support that you’ve given to me over the past two years. And don’t forget that whatever the challenges, San Diego County is stronger together.
Analysis released today shows that proposals by the Fallbrook and Rainbow water districts to leave the San Diego County Water Authority and annex into the Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County would increase costs for water ratepayers in San Diego County, reduce the county’s voting power, and decrease water supply reliability for farms and residents.
Numerous financial, environmental and legal issues that affect property owners and water users across San Diego County are analyzed in the Water Authority’s formal response to the reorganization proposals filed today with the San Diego County Local Agency Formation Commission, known as LAFCO.
