County Extends Its Option With Private Company : San Diego Keeps Hopes for Water Alive

San Diego County water officials will keep alive for at least two years their hopes to buy Colorado River water from a private company under a controversial plan that has earned the strident opposition of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and most other Western public water agencies.

The County Water Authority has accepted an offer from the firm, the Galloway Group Ltd. of Meeker, Colo., to extend for two years a $10,000 option agreement to purchase between 300,000 and 500,000 acre feet of water a year. The option, signed in August, had been due to expire Tuesday unless San Diego signed a contract with Galloway for the water.

Water authority board members had expressed reluctance to sign with Galloway for fear that San Diego could become enmeshed in legal action that is expected if the company attempts to carry out its plan. That plan calls for construction of a dam and reservoir on Colorado River tributaries in northwestern Colorado, where Galloway has water rights.

Galloway officials, recognizing that fear, offered the authority the extension as a risk-free means for San Diego to maintain its interest. Under the extension, San Diego will not be a party to any court fights between Galloway and opponents, but still will be able to purchase water in the future if Galloway prevails in its legal arguments.

Galloway plans to initiate legal proceedings within the next several months in Arizona to test its proposal.