A 15-year, fierce legal battle over the cost of water has concluded with leaders from the San Diego County Water Department and leaders from the Metropolitan Water District in Southern California.
Managers and board members of the two agencies said the dispute last year had lasted years due to its inflexible position, but negotiations last year enabled a comprehensive agreement. They said that by ending the legal battle, greater cooperation between agencies could improve finances and move water where necessary.
MWD board chair Adán OrtegaJr. said the lawsuit had complicated relationships with his agency, which delivers water to 19 million people and his agency, who is a member of MWD and delivers San Diego County water to 3.3 million people.
Ortega, who attended the signing of the settlement in San Diego, said:
Nick Serrano, chairman of the San Diego County Water Department’s board of directors, said that while the conflict lasted for years was complicated, “many of which was related to past personalities and leadership at both agencies.”
Serrano said former Water Bureau chairman Mel Katz had helped lay the foundation for the transaction. And Serrano said he prioritized the end of a “litigation era that has long plagued the two institutions” since becoming chairman in October.
The conflict was primarily about the price at which the Water Bureau pays MWD for the exchange of water. The San Diego agency has secured a specific supply of water for the Colorado River through a transaction that purchases preserved water from Imperial Irrigation Districts and obtains preserved water from projects lined with concrete across the US and Coachella Canals to prevent losses.
These supply totals 277,700 acre feet per year. (Acre feet is 325,851 gallons, sufficient to supply about three typical households a year.)
The agency said MWD will obtain the water in the Colorado River and deliver it to San Diego. Since 2010, the Water Bureau has challenged the price that MWD was charged, leading to years of debate in court and legal decisions in favor of both sides.
Under the legal settlement, the Water Department will pay a fixed price to MWD to provide these supplies, starting from $671 per acre in 2026, with annual adjustments to inflation. This was an important point of disagreement, instead of paying for MWD fees.
The Water Department may also sell these supplies to MWDs or other member institutions in Southern California.
“It means greater financial certainty for the two institutions. It means new opportunities to move water to communities that need it most,” Serrano said.
He said that working together in this way would provide greater flexibility to address future challenges in relation to drought, infrastructure investments and efforts to address chronic shortages along the Colorado River.
“Instead of fighting endlessly with yesterday’s fight, we’re going to work side-by-side to finally build the solution for tomorrow,” Serrano said, adding that it also means stabilizing the standard for people in San Diego County.
MWD general manager Deven Upadhyay said the increased flexibility that the settlement offers benefits the entire region.
“The fact that we are here is evidence of what is possible when people put their past aside, their ego aside, their own demands aside, and instead focus on greater benefits. That’s not easy,” Upadhyay said.
Some of the people at the signing ceremony “I thought maybe this day would never come,” he said.
He said that the agreement also informed MWD that “will provide greater certainty in budgeting and planning.”
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