East County News Service

August 21, 2021 (San Diego) -- In response to the extreme drought conditions impacting Southern California, the Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors on Aug. 17 declared a Water Supply Alert, calling for consumers and businesses to voluntarily reduce their water use and help preserve the region’s storage reserves. The declaration comes a day after the Bureau of Reclamation declared a first-ever shortage on the Colorado River, which typically provides about 25 percent of Southern California’s water needs.

Petition for California Supreme Court review anticipated

East County News Servic

Updated with statement from MWD

June 21, 2017 (San Diego) – The 1^st District Court of Appeal today issued a ruling in favor of the San Diego County Water Authority on key points in its lawsuits against the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  The County Water Authority has charged that MWD rates charged are illegal. The case is expected to be appealed to the California Supreme Court, where if upheld it would mean a big win for San Diego County ratepayers.

Reprinted with permission from San Diego Coastkeepers; originally published February 4, 2014 at http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org/blog/latest-blog-posts/item/428-lake-morena-and-san-diego-s-water-supply.html

By  Megan Baehrens

February 8, 2014 (San Diego)--Shortly before the Governor declared an emergency state of drought in California, a question of supply arose.

In the news recently is a story about the ongoing drawdown of water from Lake Morena. To sum it all up, the City of San Diego has begun drawing water out of Lake Morena for water supply, while the County, which runs the public park surrounding Morena, is opposed to the drawdown because it claims less water in the reservoir means harm to the environment and fewer recreational opportunities.

So who is right? The City? The County?

MWD must show whether its rates are tied to the cost of its services

May 2, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Wednesday, April 24 ordered the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to produce information no later than May 10 that shows how it allocates its costs to rates or admit it does not have any evidence to support its current allocation of its costs to its rates.  The order followed a Tuesday hearing on the Water Authority’s motion to compel MWD to answer discovery and granted the Water Authority’s motion in its entirety.  Before the Court’s ruling, MWD had refused to respond to requests by the San Diego County Water Authority asking MWD to show what evidence it has to support its claims that its rates reflect its cost of providing its services.