Reso 1520 07/2017RESOLUTION NO. 1520
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE VALLECITOS WATER DISTRICT
SUPPORTING THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY WATER
AUTHORITY'S LONG TERM WATER SUPPLY PLAN AND
LITIGATION AGAINST THE METROPOLITAN WATER
DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
WHEREAS, San Diego County's $222 billion economy and 3.3 million people
depend on the San Diego County Water Authority ("Water Authority") and its member
agencies to provide a reliable water supply at a reasonable cost; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority is a member agency of the Los Angeles -based
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California ("MWD"), which has historically
supplied the Water Authority with water imported from the Colorado River and through
the State Water Project; and
WHEREAS, following a severe drought in which San Diego County experienced
31% cutbacks in 1991, and was threatened with 50% water supply cutbacks by MWD, a
Declaration of Water Independence and Reliability was declared on July 3, 1996, by San
Diego civic and business leaders, and
WHEREAS, over the past 20 years, the Water Authority and its member agencies
have successfully transformed the San Diego region from being 95% dependent on MWD
in 1990, to approximately 20% by 2020; and
WHEREAS, MWD has allocated costs not associated with wheeling water to the
wheeling rate creating a disproportionate burden on the Water Authority for diverse
supplies wheeled through MWD's system; and
WHEREAS, these overcharges could cumulatively total more than $7 billion by
2040;
WHEREAS, the Water Authority has filed four separate lawsuits against MWD,
challenging these rates; and
WHEREAS, a San Francisco Superior Court judge has already ruled in the first
two cases that MWD's rates are illegal, awarded the Water Authority more than $243
million in damages, costs, pre -judgment interest and attorneys' fees, and directed MWD
by writ of mandate to set lawful rates; and
WHEREAS, MWD appealed the lower court ruling, and on June 21, 2017 the 1St
District Court of Appeal issued its decision, ruling in the Water Authority's favor on nine
of 10 key issues in the litigation, including among them that MWD breached its contract
with the Water Authority, overcharged the Water Authority by tens of millions of dollars,
Resolution No. 1520 Paqe 2
under -calculated the Water Authority's statutory right to MWD water supply by
approximately 100,000 acre-feet annually, and unlawfully denied the Water Authority's
right to participate in MWD water supply programs funded by its rates in violation of
California's Constitution, among other favorable rulings; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority plans to appeal to the California Supreme Court
the one adverse appellate court ruling that said MWD may include certain State Water
Project costs in the calculation of its wheeling rate; and
WHEREAS, a reliable, cost -certain and diverse water supply is vital to the
sustained prosperity of all San Diego County citizens and business enterprises.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Vallecitos Water District, that the
District supports fully the Water Authority's rate litigation against MWD that is necessary
to recover illegal rates and charges that may be assessed by MWD, now and in the future;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Vallecitos Water District, supports fully the
programs of the San Diego County Water Authority and its member agencies, on behalf
of San Diego County, as a free and independent community, to continue to diversify San
Diego County's water supply, free of any program or influence by, or subordination to
MWD.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED by the Board of Directors of the Vallecitos
Water District at a regular meeting held on the 5th day of July, 2017, by the following roll
call vote:
AYES: EVANS, HERNANDEZ, MARTIN, SANNELLA, ELITHARP
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
r g Elitharp, Presid t
oard of Directors
Vallecitos Water District
ATTEST:
Tom Scaglione, Treurer
Board of Directo
Vallecitos Water District