The San Diego County Water Authority filed suit Monday to stop the rural Fallbrook and Rainbow water districts from leaving the county system, citing environmental harm under the California Environmental Quality Act.
The lawsuit filed in Superior Court challenges a decision by the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission to allow the two districts to join Riverside County without paying what the Water Authority says is their fair share of water-reliability investments.
The “detachment” effort is the first of its kind in California and would shift approximately $140 million in costs to the rest of the Water Authority’s customers.
“Litigation is a last resort, but LAFCO’s deeply flawed decision leaves us with no choice but to stand up for residents, businesses and the environment,” said Water Authority Board Chair Mel Katz.
Katz said LAFCO denied a request by the Water Authority to extend a key litigation deadline to accommodate settlement talks.
“Even though we were forced to file this lawsuit, we have had several good-faith discussions with Fallbrook and Rainbow, and we look forward to continued talks in hopes of finding a mutually agreeable resolution outside the court process,” Katz said.
The two districts are seeking to join the Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County, which draws primarily from the Colorado River and the State Water Project, in hopes of securing lower-cost water for farmers.
Fallbrook and Rainbow say they don’t benefit from investments like the Carlsbad desalination plant, enlarged San Vicente Reservoir and Olivenhain Dam emergency storage project and are willing to take their chances on water reliability.
The Water Authority cites a number of California laws in its suit, but notably CEQA, which has been used to oppose projects ranging from new housing to highways to dams. The suit argues that detachment will harm the environment because Fallbrook and Rainbow will draw more water from the ecologically stressed Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta via the State Water Project.
“CEQA requires LAFCO to conduct an adequate environmental review prior to making any formal decision regarding projects subject to the act,” according to the lawsuit. “LAFCO failed to do so before approving the resolutions, in violation of CEQA.”
The Water Authority’s investments have totaled several billion dollars over 30 years, but San Diego County did not face any water restrictions during the serious 2020-22 California drought.