The San Diego County Water Authority should receive upward of $188 million after a San Francisco Superior Court judge tentatively ruled that the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) charged the agency illegal water rates.
Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow ruled the MWD, the largest supplier of treated water in the U.S., had overcharged the Water Authority from 2011 to 2014. The district brings Southern California water from the Colorado River and the north part of the state.
Last year Judge Karnow determined MWD had violated law requiring rates be limited to the cost of providing services.
On Wednesday, the judge tentatively rejected all of MWD's defenses to the Water Authority's challenges.
“San Diego has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that it was in fact damaged by paying conveyance rates that were higher than Met could have set pursuant to applicable law and regulation,” Judge Karnow wrote in Wednesday’s tentative decision. “Each time Met sets unlawful conveyance rates, it breached its obligations.”
Karnow also ruled MWD had underestimated the Water Authority’s right to MWD water supplies, since all MWD member agencies are legally entitled to a percentage of the Metropolitan Water District's water supply.
“This decision is a major victory for the San Diego region — not just the Water Authority, but our many partners who have supported this rate case from the start,” said Mark Weston, chair of the Water Authority’s Board of Directors in a news release. “Judge Karnow’s tentative award is a clear signal that MWD has been living outside the law and will need to reform its rates going forward. Over decades, this ruling will save San Diego County ratepayers billions of dollars.”
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A spokesperson for the MWD sent NBC 7 this statement on the ruling:
“We disagree with but we’re not surprised by the decision, given the judge’s ruling on the earlier phase of the trial. Metropolitan will file objections to the Tentative Statement and, at the conclusion of the litigation in the trial court, will appeal the adverse rulings.”
A final ruling on this case, which started in 2010, is expected next month.
If given the $188 million, the Water Authority said it will deduct litigation expenses and give the remaining money back to its 24 member agencies in San Diego County.
