COSTA MESA : Santa Ana Heights Water Co. May Merge With Larger Agency

Mesa Consolidated Water District might have 2,000 new customers under a proposed merger with the Santa Ana Heights Water Co., a small agency that now buys water from the Metropolitan Water District but wants to associate with a water source closer to home.

The board of directors for both water agencies met last Thursday to discuss the possible merger, which would dissolve the 35-year-old Santa Ana Heights Water Co. The firm’s service area extends from Newport Boulevard on the west, Bristol Street on the north, 23rd Street on the south and the Back Bay on the east.

Under the current arrangement, Mesa Consolidated maintains, upgrades and repairs Santa Ana Heights’ entire water system. Santa Ana Heights handles only the billing for its customers and purchases water directly from the Metropolitan Water District.

“We’re already tied in with Mesa, so it’s the logical thing to do,” said David Plisco, one of the Santa Ana Heights directors. “It’s a matter of survival for the future.”

The price of water per acre-foot is also cheaper. According to Santa Ana Heights directors, imported water from Northern California and the Colorado River costs $300 more per acre-foot than ground water, which is what Mesa Consolidated provides. The supply of ground water is more reliable, they said, because it does not have to be transported hundreds of miles.

Both agencies are assuring their customers that water rates will not increase as a result of the merger. And the Santa Ana Heights company believes, in time, that the merger will prove to be cheaper.

Under the proposed merger, Santa Ana Heights would turn over its assets to Mesa Consolidated, which include 2.7 acres of land at Bristol and Newport Boulevard, estimated to be worth $2 million, and $1 million in cash reserves.

But before the merger can take place, the Santa Ana Heights residents must vote on the matter in March. The county’s Local Agency Formation Commission would also need to approve the merger. So would Newport Beach, which has a two-decades-old agreement with Mesa Consolidated prohibiting either from competing against the other.

Mesa Consolidated has already talked to Newport Beach officials and so far the city manager has “no reservations” about the merger, said Mary Urashima, Mesa Consolidated’s public relations director.

“We’ve worked with them (Santa Ana Heights) for decades, and there is a desire to help,” Urashima said. “And there is an understanding that Santa Ana Heights needs to come to a solution. We’re doing their operational work, so the merger makes sense.”