Water-Rights Lawsuit Ends After 66 Years

After 66 years of litigation and more than 50 years of settlement talks, the longest-running federal civil case in San Diego has ended. The Fallbrook Public Utility District board of directors voted unanimously Monday to end a water dispute with the U.S. government over rights to water that flows from the Santa Margarita River. “After eight years of my time here, and many more years of other people’s time before that, we are at the point where we have a final agreement with Camp Pendleton on the Santa Margarita,” the district’s acting general manager, Jack Bebee, told directors.