ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Campaign That Doesn’t Hold Water

Another obscure South County water district is getting critical attention these days. This time it’s the Tri-Cities Municipal Water District, which serves San Clemente, Capistrano Beach and a small part of northern San Diego County.

Out of sight, out of mind usually has been the operating method of water districts, but ironically, Tri-Cities is under scrutiny largely because of the high profile it is trying so hard to take. To get more visibility, it is spending a lot of money. Critics are asking some good questions about whether all that spending is necessary, and whether the campaign is basically an effort at self-perpetuation at a time when consolidation appears to be the wave of the future.

The dollars spent on getting the district’s message out do seem awfully high. A proposal being discussed with the Marine Corps to share Camp Pendleton’s underground water supply--which, by the way, may yet prove to be a good idea--is still in the environmental study stage. Yet last month alone, the district spent $31,000 on publicity. Then there is the $4,000 a month being paid to retain a Washington-based lobbyist and the $75 an hour being paid for a part-time administrative assistant.

Some are wondering aloud whether the functions of the district would be best taken over by, say, the city of San Clemente. Indeed, consolidation has been recommended by the Orange County Grand Jury, which recently focused on Tri-Cities.

Spending large amounts of money on consultants and publicity may call the wrong kind of attention to a district that basically buys water from one district and sells it to others. It’s one thing to negotiate with the Marines; it’s another to launch a $100,000 publicity campaign at a time when the grand jury and some of the district’s own customers are wondering whether it is simply one more layer of unnecessary government bureaucracy.