The San Diego County Water Authority board 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 (PUD) and Rainbow Municipal Water District (MWD).
“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.
The San Diego County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) voted on Monday to allow the two North County water districts to detach from the Water Authority.
Jack Bebee, general manager of Fallbrook PUD, said the move was the right one.
“You join agencies under terms and conditions, and you can depart them under terms and conditions," he said. "And they may not be equitable to everyone in their mind, but LAFCO's job is to look at and say what's ... equitable for both parties. And we feel like they did that job.”
According to a LAFCO analysis, Rainbow and Fallbrook could save an estimated $7.7 million a year by switching to Riverside County's Eastern Municipal Water District.
The Water Authority said by allowing Fallbrook and Rainbow to leave, the rest of San Diego will be stuck with a roughly $200 million tab over the next decade.
Voters in Rainbow and Fallbrook still need to vote on detachment. Bebee said the Water Authority's options are limited after LAFCO's vote, but he will keep an open mind.
“We're looking forward to working with them and looking at alternatives," he said. "If those end up being alternatives that go to the public for votes or something (else) ... we'll see."
Serrano said the Water Authority is keeping all options open, including litigation. For now, it seems the San Diego water divorce is far from settled.
