Updated: February 8, 2023     Download PDF Version

Mesa Water District (Mesa WaterĀ®) supports:

  1. Groundwater Quality Protection
    1. Support Orange County Water Districtā€™s (OCWD) current groundwater quality protection programs
      1. Basin Equity Assessment (BEA) Exemption Program for Impaired Groundwater (including the Mesa Water Reliability Facility)
      2. The MTBE, North Basin, and South Basin groundwater protection projects
      3. The Tustin and Irvine desalters
    2. Encourage OCWD to protect the Basin from chlorides caused by seawater intrusion
      1. Encourage OCWD to set a goal of maintaining protective elevations along the coast
      2. Encourage OCWD to hold semi-annual barrier meetings with Coastal Agencies (Huntington Beach, Mesa Water, and Seal Beach)
      3. Encourage semi-annual reporting on the barrier
    3. Collaborate with OCWD in advocating for funding and treatment of Constituents of Emerging Concern (CECs) such as PFAS
  2. Policies that raise and stabilize the Basin Pumping Percentage (BPP)
    1. Support OCWD setting a target BPP that they intend to consistently meet
    2. Support new water supply projects that help achieve this goal
    3. Support OCWD adopting a water supply policy that sets a goal of developing water supply and recharge capabilities, including purchasing replenishment water, or other actions that result in a reliable and predictable source of groundwater at a BPP of not less than 80 percent. A goal of this policy is to accomplish this with a cost-neutral, or better, impact on producers when the avoided cost of purchasing imported water is considered
  3. Policies that keep the Basin full
    1. Support OCWD adhering to the BPP-setting formula
    2. Support maximum production at the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) to ensure a cost-effective, high-quality, environmentally-friendly and sustainable local water supply that benefits all OCWD producers and that increases the regionā€™s current and future water reliability
    3. Support maximum wastewater flows treatable by the GWRS to the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) -- and support OCSD/OCWDā€™s permanent acquisition of such wastewater flows -- to ensure source reliability for the GWRS
    4. Support stormwater capture projects that are cost-effective (e.g., equivalent to or less than GWRS costs) and that contribute source water to the Basin Principal Aquifer
  4. Basin Storage and Exchange/Transfer Programs that are market-based with the primary benefits accruing to OCWD, its Groundwater Producers, and the ratepayers they serve, with such Programs applying the ā€œBeneficiaries Payā€ principle and addressing issues including, but not limited to:
    1. Full cost recovery, at a minimum, of a proportional share of the historic and future capital investments as well as operations and maintenance costs incurred by OCWD to manage the Basin
    2. Full cost recovery, at a minimum, of the proportional value that entry into the Basin affords, including the value of reliability (and thus loss of reliability to the Groundwater Producers through the loss of available storage capacity) and the value of treatment
    3. Accounting for water loss in a current or future year (both lost out of the Basin and lost due to inability to spread or extract)
    4. Consideration that the above is merely a ā€œbreak evenā€ deal, and any program should bring significant benefits in excess of the above to OCWD and its Groundwater Producers
    5. Deferring entering into any agreements until the IRWD v. OCWD lawsuit is resolved
    6. Deferring entering into any agreements until the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) Conjunctive Use Program has been terminated
    7. Limiting any potential future storage agreements to storage programs that are compliant with OCWD Act Section 2.1.c
    8. Maximizing the beneficial use of the Basin while maximizing Basin Pumping Percentage (BPP) for the Groundwater Producers overlying the Basin
  5. Annexations
    1. Support financially neutral annexations into OCWD
  6. A financially strong OCWD
    1. Support policies and practices that maintain OCWDā€™s current AAA credit rating from two of the three credit rating agencies
  7. The potential merger of the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) and OCWD if the merger:
    1. is mutually agreed upon by both MWDOC and OCWD, with any governance change supported by MWDOCā€™s and OCWDā€™s Boards of Directors
    2. encourages MWDOC and OCWD exploring mutual areas of efficiency that results in economic savings for the members of both agencies
    3. improves or, at a minimum, preserves the quality, reliability and sustainability of wholesale water services to the members of both agencies
    4. preserves the interests of groundwater producers currently existing within Orange Countyā€™s groundwater basin and protects those interests from diminished groundwater resources or supplies
    5. supports MWDOCā€™s current geographic boundaries, and preserves the existing boundaries of the Orange County groundwater basin for pumping and storage purposes
    6. supports MWDOCā€™s current mission, and allows the Orange County groundwater basin to remain unadjudicated
    7. respects the ā€œone person one voteā€ principle if the new Board of Directors is a wholly elected board
    8. is facilitated openly and transparently, and
    9. increases the effectiveness of Orange Countyā€™s representation at MWD, with a coordinated and unified voice representing Orange County
  8. Increased influence at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD)
    1. Support increased allocations of MWDOC resources for engagement at MWD
    2. Support coordination of the entire Orange County MWD delegation
  9. MWDOCā€™s priority initiatives at MWD
    1. Protect Mesa Waterā€™s service area from any cost shifts as a result of the San Diego County Water Authority lawsuit
    2. Encourage continued efforts in improving the Delta
    3. Seek opportunities for MWD to provide assistance (or partnership) with MWDOC on developing desalination in Orange County
    4. Continue to support MWDā€™s discounted replenishment water program
  10. Close working relationships with MWDOC on local and regional issues and programs for which the organization is advocating at MWD
  11. The current Mesa Water Strategic Plan, including the Districtā€™s goals to:
    1. Provide a safe, abundant, and reliable water supply.
    2. Practice perpetual infrastructure renewal and improvement.
    3. Be financially responsible and transparent.
    4. Increase favorable opinion of Mesa Water.
    5. Attract, develop and retain skilled employees.
    6. Provide excellent customer service.
    7. Actively participate in regional and statewide water issues.
  12. The Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission (OC LAFCO) as more of a facilitator than an initiator of actions
  13. The development of cost-effective and environmentally sensitive sources of water, including storage, recycling, groundwater clean-up, conjunctive use, conservation, conveyance, and desalination  
  14. CalDesalā€™s mission and its efforts to advocate for funding for brackish and ocean water desalination
  15. The co-equal goals of improved water supply reliability and Delta ecosystem health
  16. Water rates, fees, and other service or use charges based on true costs in conformance with Prop. 218, and tax-free revenue
  17. The ā€œExpenditures Per Capitaā€ metric as being more accessible and equitable, as well as a simpler and superior method -- versus comparing water rates alone -- for measuring the full, true cost and ā€œaffordabilityā€ of a public water systemā€™s services to its community
  18. Policies that encourage economical and practical water efficiency for indoor water use, irrigation water use, and commercial and industrial water use, without stranding investments in potable reuse systems, including:
    1. Indoor water use efficiency at the level needed for community health and safety -- as substantiated by a recently-commissioned, validated, and peer-reviewed fact-based studies that are credible, replicable, and verifiable -- and that protects local investments in potable reuse systems
    2. Irrigation water use efficiency at the level necessary for productive crops and attractive landscapes
    3. Commercial and industrial water use efficiency at a level that sustains economic vitality
  19. Policies that recognize all types of recycled water, including purple pipe and potable reuse, for bonus incentives/credit/variances within conservation mandates
  20. Theft prevention of municipal metal infrastructure, such as fire hydrants, manhole covers, and backflow devices
  21. The equitable treatment of OCWD -- and its programs and projects -- by the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) with respect to grants funding and related considerations as part of SAWPAā€™s Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) planning and One Water One Watershed program

Mesa Water opposes:

  1. The encroachment of Mesa Water easements, rights-of-way, and property without negotiation, agreed upon compensation, and advance approval at the sole discretion of the District
  2. Administrative, legislative, and regulatory actions that mandate new, unfunded operational practices which add cost burdens or time delays to work conducted by essential public utilities
  3. One-size-fits-all mandates regarding water use efficiency that ignore local IRWM plans or Urban Water Management Plans