Cities Seek to Secede From Water District

The latest secession movement in Los Angeles County has nothing to do with claims of poor government representation. Instead, it has everything to do with the price of Southern California’s most precious commodity: water.

Five cities have formally started the process to withdraw from the troubled water district that serves 3.5 million people in the south end of the county. Lakewood this week joined a breakaway movement that already includes Downey, Signal Hill, Santa Fe Springs and Pico Rivera and may add three more nearby cities.

Officials of those cities say they are fed up with high water rates and questionable financial spending at the Water Replenishment District of Southern California. The district, which manages the ground-water supplies for 43 cities in a 430-square-mile area, has increased water fees up to 200% since 1991.

“The bottom line is our ratepayers are paying too much for the water because of what we pay the water district,” said Lakewood Councilman Marc Titel.

The secession efforts gained steam in December when a state audit accused the district of shoddy planning. The study also criticized the district for accumulating a $67-million reserve and spending thousands of dollars on consultants.

“They have turned the district into a cash cow for consultants,” said Lakewood Councilman Bob Wagner.

But water district officials say the increased fees and the high reserve are needed to protect and replenish the underground water from saltwater contamination.

Water District Board President Robert Goldsworthy called the secession movement unfortunate. He defended the district’s rates and high reserves as essential to pay for the new water projects, including a Torrance facility to remove saltwater from underground reserves.

“We are spending $40 million on projects that we think are badly needed,” he said. “These cities are some distance away and don’t see the benefits for themselves.”

The district was created in 1959 to protect the underground water supply in the central and west basins by charging cities a fee to pump water from underground aquifers and wells.

Goldsworthy said the state Legislature created the water district to end repeated disputes among cities and private water districts over replenishing the underground supplies. He said a breakup of the district would bring back those contentious days.

But city officials who want to secede say they hope to create a new joint-powers agreement among as many as eight breakaway cities to manage the aquifers and wells within their borders.

Like other cities that want to break away, Lakewood has its own water agency to supply residents. But the city must pay the water district $139 per acre-foot to draw from the underground supplies. An acre-foot is the amount of water used by two typical homes in a year.

Municipal officials say the high rates charged by the district are passed on to residents even if the cities must tap other, less expensive water sources. Critics of the water district say the rates should be about $100 per acre-foot.

Lakewood officials say that replacing the water district would not be difficult because it is simply an administrative agency that buys water from the Metropolitan Water District. A county agency pumps that water into the underground aquifers by way of massive spreading grounds owned by the county.

Officials in the cities of Paramount, Norwalk and Cerritos are considering whether to join the secession movement.

To break away, the cities must file a formal secession application with the Local Agency Formation Commission, a state-created agency that oversees secessions and annexations.

The Lakewood City Council unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday to seek a breakaway from the district. Once Paramount, Norwalk and Cerritos decide whether to join the secession, the group of cities will jointly file a formal secession application with LAFCO.