Tiny District to Tap Into Base’s Water Supply : Agreement: Tri-Cities’ pact with Marines will give it access to basin beneath creek at Camp Pendleton. But critics say the utility is trying to buy itself a future with taxpayers’ money.

A tiny South County water district has forged a unique agreement with the Marine Corps to share Camp Pendleton’s water supply, but critics say the district is making the move to save itself from extinction.

San Clemente’s Tri-Cities Municipal Water District and the Marines have agreed to share the high-quality water beneath San Mateo Creek at the northern edge of the base.

The agreement gives the district something most South County water agencies lack: a local supply of water that can be tapped in emergencies and a water basin available for storage.

It is the first time in Camp Pendleton’s 52-year history that the military has agreed to this type of civilian partnership. Although an official document has not yet been signed, officials said that is only a formality.

“There are still some mechanics to be worked out in the next several weeks . . . but we think this is a very positive thing to be doing,” said Col. Steve Fisher, Camp Pendleton’s community planning and liaison officer. “We want to be a good neighbor and partner in the region . . . and this is a great win-win situation for everybody.”

In exchange for access to the underground basin, the district will drill the wells, build the infrastructure to distribute the water and pay for the deal, an amount estimated at $5 million.

The deal’s critics--including one Tri-Cities board member--claim the district is trying to buy itself a future with taxpayers’ money.

And while endorsing the concept of the project, some South County officials say Tri-Cities is spending too much for a district that is a target for consolidation as the county pushes to merge certain government agencies.

The Orange County Grand Jury is studying whether Tri-Cities should merge with the county’s three other water agencies that wholesale water to districts that serve customers.

“The bottom line is the board is trying to save this district by making this project so essential they can perpetuate Tri-Cities Municipal Water District,” Tri-Cities board member Ray Benedicktus said. “I’m not knocking the concept, but there’s a lot of facts we still need to study.”

San Clemente Mayor Scott Diehl agreed, urging the Tri-Cities board to slow down. At a recent Tri-Cities board meeting, Diehl told the directors he does not want his city’s taxpayers stuck with the bill if the district goes away.

“We are nervous about the agreement,” Diehl told the board. “If there is a big financial burden put on Tri-Cities, ultimately it will come to us.”

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Board President William C. Mecham said the positive aspects of the project far outweigh criticism. He emphasized that the water will cost less, in the long run, than water from other sources.

“Whatever costs are incurred by the district will be returned to us in the form of water,” Mecham said. “That’s a very important asset.”

Not only will the basin offer the district a new local water supply, but it would also give its 70,000 South County customers an emergency supply of water if an earthquake or flood damaged a pipeline, district officials said.

South County now depends on water from the Colorado River and Northern California that is imported by pipelines susceptible to earthquakes, said Dennis Erdman, a former Tri-Cities director credited with launching the San Mateo Creek effort.

“You are drastically short of storage in the area,” said Erdman, now the manager of a water district in Mammoth Lakes. “There is not enough storage combined in the cities of Dana Point and San Clemente for more than a five-day supply, so who knows what would happen after an earthquake. The prospect of 70,000 people without water is pretty frightening.”

The estimated capacity of the San Mateo basin, about 2,000 acre-feet of water, could provide several months of water in an emergency, Erdman said.

The emergency capabilities helped persuade the Marines to approve the project, Fisher said.

Last winter, the 50,000 Marines and civilians who work and live at the 125,000-acre Camp Pendleton were left without water when floods tainted the base’s water treatment plants, Fisher said.

“After our experience last year, I’ve been convinced this makes sense,” Fisher said, adding that Tri-Cities will also take on the job of tapping and maintaining the underground basin, as well as distributing it in the northern portion of the base.

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The project has won praise from officials of the vast Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the state’s powerful water supplier.

Facing a dwindling water supply, MWD officials have urged local districts to begin tapping into local supplies and have even promised to pay some of the costs.

John V. Foley of Laguna Niguel, MWD’s board chairman, said similar projects are underway to use underground basins around the state. But no one has worked with the Marines like Tri-Cities.

“This is a wonderful thing to pull together, and (Tri-Cities) deserves a lot of credit,” said Foley, who is also the general manager of the Moulton Niguel Water District. “In the long haul, we just have to encourage local development. It’s just one more source of water we need to explore.”