Emerging Opportunities in South County Water/Wastewater Systems*

Published: July 09, 2024 3 pages

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⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.

⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.

Findings 1 findings

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"There is currently no unified strategy for the future of water/wastewater provision in South Orange County." Response: IRWD disagrees partially with this finding. South Orange County currently has eight retail water districts and one city that provide water services and that are responsible for wastewater services, although they may use the joint conveyance and treatment facilities of the South Orange County Wastewater Authority (SOCWA). South Orange County's retail water agencies strive to collaborate effectively on water/wastewater management, infrastructure development, and policy - despite having differing views on wastewater governance and how best to service their customers. IRWD disagrees partially with the finding based on what a "unified strategy" could mean. We agree that there may not be a unified strategy for the future of water/wastewater provision if one views a "unified strategy" as being future provision of those services by one entity or agreement on if SOCWA should play a role. We disagree with the finding if a "unified strategy" means a common understanding of who is responsible for providing water and wastewater services to each portion of South Orange County and a plan on how they will provide those services. This unified strategy for the provision of services exists. The strategy is that each retail water agency will be responsible for ensuring those services are provided to their service area, and those service areas are clearly defined and understood. A retail water agency may provide the services itself, or via contract with SOCWA or another entity, but will decide what is best for its customers. This is the approach IRWD has taken.

Recommendations 1

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Background Information: IRWD provides high-quality drinking water, reliable wastewater collection and treatment, groundbreaking water recycling programs, and environmentally sound urban runoff treatment to approximately 445,000 residents and a daytime population of 600,000, served through more than 131,000 connections. IRWD remains a longstanding leader in the areas of water resource management and planning, with an emphasis on sustainability. The District is also a recognized leader in the areas of water recycling, drought preparedness, emergency supply development, supply diversification, water use efficiency, and financial management. As noted in the Grand Jury's report, IRWD has extensive experience with water and wastewater agency consolidations. Over the years, IRWD has consolidated with five water suppliers. The Grand Jury's report accurately related that IRWD's integrated services have allowed for reduced overhead and administrative costs, lower rates and charges to customers of the consolidated district, with benefits to all customers. IRWD agrees that good governance includes analyzing alternative arrangements that may improve how public agencies provide services. When considering consolidation requests, IRWD seeks to identify increased efficiencies through economies of scale and mutual benefits from combined expertise and resources. Community engagement and support is also important for any successful consolidation. Irvine Ranch Water District • 15600 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA 92618 • Mailing Address: P.O. Box 57000, Irvine, CA 92619-7000 • 949-453-5300 • www.irwd.com 100 The Honorable Maria D. Hernandez Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of California July 9, 2024 It is important to note that successful consolidations take time and allow for evaluation, analysis, planning, and community engagement. This is one of the many reasons why IRWD does not support unilaterally initiated consolidations, detachments, or other forced service boundary changes. Given this background, IRWD's

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.