Two of the San Diego County Water Authority’s smallest customers — avocado and citrus farming communities in North County tired of paying ever-rising water rates to urbanize San Diego — were prepared to leave quietly in search of cheaper water elsewhere.
Voters across two North County water districts overwhelmingly supported a ballot measure to break away from the San Diego County Water Authority, capping a years-long effort to divorce from the regional agency.
In unofficial election results from the Tuesday election, roughly 19 of every 20 ballots cast by residents of the Rainbow Municipal Water District and the Fallbrook Public Utilities District supported leaving the county water authority.
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.
Tensions seem to be cooling slightly between the San Diego County Water Authority and those that want to leave it.
Two small North County farming communities survived a second round of attempts by the Water Authority to wage a legal war against their divorce from the regional water supplier.
The San Diego County Local Area Formation Commission took a major step Monday toward allowing two rural water districts to leave the jurisdiction of the county Water Authority — by leaving the matter in the hands of the voters.
A local governing board voted to approve the separation of two North County water districts from the San Diego County Water Authority, moving forward their efforts to cut ties with the supplier in pursuit of cheaper water rates. The county’s Local Agency Formation Commission voted 5-3 in favor of allowing the Fallbrook Public Utility District and the Rainbow Municipal Water District to leave the central water agency and switch to Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County.
The San Diego County Local Area Formation Commission took a major step Monday toward allowing two rural water districts to leave the jurisdiction of the county Water Authority — by leaving the matter in the hands of the voters.
In a 5 to 3 vote today, July 10, 2023, LAFCO voted to allow Fallbrook and Rainbow to detach from San Diego Water Authority (SDWA). Directors Desmond, Willis, Drake, Vanderlaan and White voted in favor of allowing the detachment, while Directors Anderson, Whitburn and Becker voted against allowing Fallbrook and Bonsall to detach.
Two North County farming communities can divorce the San Diego County Water Authority and buy cheaper water elsewhere. That’s what San Diego’s boundary referees, the Local Agency Formation Commission or LAFCO, decided Monday. It was the eight-member board’s third try voting on this controversial breakup that powerful politicians from San Diego, Los Angeles and even the state Legislature tried to defeat.
A local government body on Monday delayed the decision on whether two North County water districts can leave the San Diego County Water Authority to buy cheaper water elsewhere.
Fallbrook Public Utility District and Rainbow Municipal Water District want a divorce from the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) because they say the water rate is too high. They want to move to the Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside for its cheaper water. It’s a process called detachment.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
