The San Diego Lawsuit and Public Relations Campaign
San Diego County Water Authority v. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
SDCWA filed suit against Met in June 2010, claiming that Met's rate structure is unfair. SDCWA seeks to pay less than their fair share of Met's transportation costs and the result would be a significant cost shift to the other Met member agencies forced to make up the difference. In 2012, SDCWA launched an expensive public relations campaign against Met and some of its member agencies, attempting to divert public attention from SDCWA's policy decisions.
For more information about the lawsuit, click here (this will redirect you to Metropolitan's website).
Read the New York Times article from April 23, 2012, "Fees and anger rise in California water war."
Report Confirms Motivations Behind $3 Billion Cost Shift: West Basin participates in report to protect rate payers
April 25, 2012 Press Release
A Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) report, commissioned by seven Metropolitan Water District (Met) member agencies and released on Tuesday, April 24, 2012, confirms that San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) is paying more for water purchased from Imperial Irrigation District (IID) than it would have paid for the same amount of water from Met. The report confirms what West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) believes are the SDCWA's motivations behind the lawsuit and negative public relations campaign it is waging against Met and its member agencies. SDCWA is attempting to shift the costs of its water transfer to the other Met member agencies.
Click here to read the report: The Cost of Water in San Diego: The IID Water Transfer and San Diego County Water Authority Rates