The County of San Diego will be replacing the Live Oak Park Road bridge, which will impact two Rainbow Municipal Water District water mains. Hazard Construction was given the county contract for the bridge replacement and, on April 26, the Rainbow board approved an agreement with Hazard to add the water main construction to the Lakeside company’s work.
Local residents spoke out at a packed standing room only town hall meeting last week about a proposal by the Fallbrook Public Utility District and Rainbow Municipal Water District to switch water suppliers, a change that they are reportng would save ratepayers millions of dollars.
Following years of escalating water costs from the San Diego County Water Authority, averaging 8% per year, FPUD and Rainbow are seeking to change water suppliers – through a process known as detachment – from the Water Authority.
The San Diego County Water Authority announced Monday that it will begin precautionary repairs to a key pipeline in Bonsall.
The Water Authority said its staff detected potential weaknesses in a 48-foot section of Pipeline 4 just north of West Lilac Road in late January using acoustic fiber-optic monitoring.
Plans are to shut down and drain that stretch of 90-inch diameter pipe starting Tuesday. Work to replace the segment will continue until the line is back in service approximately 10 days later.
To understand why water agencies in Fallbrook and Rainbow are in revolt, consider the squeeze faced by Ismael Resendiz and the 250-acre cut-flower farm where he grows Protea, Pincushions and Banksia.
Resendiz said his flowers are barely getting the water they need to thrive. He said he’s had to cut irrigation in half over the last two years because of soaring rates. Over the last five years, his monthly bill has jumped from about $25,000 to $30,000 a month.
Now he’s considering dramatically shrinking his crop.
The Rainbow Municipal Water District’s Rice Canyon Pipeline project will have cultural and tribal monitoring during construction.
The official Rainbow board action Dec. 7, which was approved on a 4-0 vote with Pam Moss absent, approves a change order to the as-needed consulting services contract the district has with Helix Environmental Planning. The board also appropriated an additional $115,000 to cover the cost of the cultural and tribal consulting work.
San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission has released the draft municipal service review updates of Fallbrook special districts for public review. Discussion on updating the municipal service review information for the Fallbrook Public Utility District, the Rainbow Municipal Water District, the North County Fire Protection District, and County Service Area No. 81 was part of the Dec. 6 LAFCO board meeting although releasing the report for public review did not require a vote.
The Rainbow Municipal Water District adopted a Resolution of Necessity for seven legal parcels which will be needed for Rainbow’s Lift Station No. 1 replacement project including temporary construction easements.
Rainbow’s board voted 4-0 Dec. 7, with Pam Moss absent, to adopt a Resolution of Necessity for the seven parcels with three different ownerships and to authorize Rainbow General Manager Tom Kennedy to proceed with actions necessary to acquire the interests in the properties.
The weighted vote at 2022 San Diego County Water Authority board meetings will increase slightly for the Rainbow Municipal Water District while decreasing slightly for the Fallbrook Public Utility District and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
The Nov. 18 SDCWA board meeting approved the 2022 weighted vote allocations for the CWA member agencies. RMWD will have 3.926% of the weighted vote, FPUD will have a weighted vote of 2.238%, and the Camp Pendleton weighted vote will be 0.081%. For the 2021 board meetings, RMWD had a weighted vote of 3.923%, FPUD’s share was 2.256%, and the Camp Pendleton weighted vote was 0.084%.
When the San Diego County Water Authority adopted the Permanent Special Agricultural Water Rate, the SDCWA also adopted eligibility criteria but allowed previous Temporary Special Agricultural Water Rate customers a six-month grace period to establish eligibility. The CWA extended that transitional eligibility period by an additional two months June 24. The unanimous CWA board vote extends the temporary eligibility period to Aug. 31. Although the six CWA member agencies who requested an extension of the eligibility period sought a six-month extension, the CWA’s Financial Strategy Working Group recommended the two-month extension which was approved by the CWA board.
With nearly 100 years of combined experience working on important regional issues across San Diego County, we wanted to share some observations about a proposal currently pending among our region’s water providers.
The Fallbrook Public Utility District and Rainbow Municipal Water District have filed applications to leave the San Diego County Water Authority and instead get their water from an agency in Riverside County.
First and foremost, this is a regional decision that has regional implications. Rainbow and Fallbrook’s plan for leaving for Riverside will raise water bills on every family and business in San Diego County, all while our economy is trying to recover from a recession caused by the pandemic.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
