RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Should the Rancho Murieta Community Services District declare a water emergency to halt all new hookups?

At the instigation of Director Steve Booth, the board members discussed this idea for the first time during their meeting on July 17. Their new attorney advised that the district “isn’t quite there yet” and also highlighted other complicating issues that need consideration.

John Merchant, who was in the audience, launched a petition drive several days later demanding that the district declare a moratorium on development. A harsh critic of the 2024 Integrated Water Master Plan that is still in process, Merchant is a past Community Services District board member and the vice-president of Save Our Lakes & Open Spaces (SOLOS).

Before the board meeting, Booth asked that an action item be placed on the agenda to declare a temporary water emergency “to halt all new water hookups, distribution expansion, and construction approvals until the water capacity can be assessed.”

“I’m not one to slam my fist and say no more development,” Booth explained during the meeting. "But I do believe we have enough information today to establish that a shortage of water is foreseeable."

However, Booth’s action item morphed into a discussion item after the district’s new legal counsel Patrick Enright advised it wouldn’t meet the California Water Code requirements. “Counsel eloquently shared with us that based on the timing of my request and the timing of this board meeting, we could not have satisfied the procedural requirements to have a public hearing,” Booth explained.

Nevertheless, Booth said he would continue to advocate for a public notice and a hearing to initiate a water emergency declaration as soon as possible. Enright said the district must publish at least a 7-day notice in a local newspaper before a hearing can be held.

The day after the meeting, Merchant took to social media saying “that CSD does not seem to understand the urgency here.” He asked residents if they would sign a petition demanding that Community Services District implement a moratorium. Within 36 hours, 300 individuals said they were in favor, according to Merchant.  Since then, the petition has been made available on the Save Our Lakes & Open Spaces website and elsewhere. Merchant said the goal is to collect 1,000 signatures.

In his first post, Merchant explained that the petition wouldn’t force the board to do anything. However, it will be sent to Sacramento County and the State Water Resources Control Board. “It will help us to be in a position if, in the end, public opposition is our last resort,” he wrote.

Attorney Comments

Enright informed the board that the water code allows the district to adopt a moratorium if there is an actual water shortage or a projected future shortage or drought. The district also has broad powers to address the situation.

“We can cut it off immediately with no new connections,” he said. “Or we could phase it in over a period of time.”

Enright indicated he was still familiarizing himself with the Integrated Water Master Plan, which is currently with the consultants, and other reports.

“We have to make sure our ducks are in line so it is defensible,” he said. “We need to verify the data and the assumptions and come to an agreement as to what they are,” Enright said.

Enright said the district also has contractual issues with two financing and servicing agreements (FSAs) that were used to raise money for the water plant upgrade, which are in different stages. He said many homes under the 670 financing and servicing agreement (covering previously approved developments such as the Residences and Riverview) have already been built or have “will serve” letters. He said approximately 300 homes are yet to be constructed.

However, the proposed Rancho North subdivision with 697 lots and 39 acres on Jackson Highway that is covered by the second financing and servicing agreement hasn’t yet received any entitlements from the county

“So they are basically at ground zero,” Enright said.

“If you have a vested right to do something, you’ve got a much better case to say that the moratorium should not apply to you,” Enright said.

The courts will also want to know how the district is trying to augment its water supplies to resolve the issue, according to Enright.

“We need to get firm numbers as to what those alternatives are, the projected costs, and how they can be potentially financed, whether through the argumentation fees and other means,” Enright said.

The courts also give water agencies the discretion to determine if a water augmentation option isn’t feasible. One reason could be the extreme cost.

“The courts aren’t going to make the district go bankrupt,” Enright said.

The attorney also emphasized that the district has “a firm duty to provide water to its current residents.”

He also noted that the district must factor in Senate Bill 552 which requires that communities like Rancho Murieta have a backup plan for drought.

While some people in the community “would like to cause a pause at this time, I don’t think we are quite there yet,” the attorney said. “That is something I’m going to continue looking at and report back to you on a monthly basis.”

Board Comments

In board comments afterward, Director Martin Pohll said the district “has to get our data in line.  I think that means we’ve got to get the Integrated Water Master plan concluded, so if there is a moratorium, we would have a basis.”

Booth said the board should take a position on how much risk is acceptable, citing an earlier report by the district’s interim operations manager.  

“Mr. Bohannon told us that knocking over a hydrant at Calero a few years ago drained the Rio Oso Tank to its bottom in five hours,” he said.

Booth said the consultants preparing the water plan are “clearly steering toward a finding that there’s a clear need to augment our water supply, especially in light of already approved development, let alone the proposed stuff on the horizon.”

But to date, the consultants haven’t provided the board with the solid means to provide the augmentation, he added.

“My opinion is we need the timeout now until the scope of the shortfall is clearly known,” Booth said. “I don’t believe that the majority of the board agrees with me on those points. But that’s my point of view on behalf of this community at large.”

Director Linda Butler said Booth had taken the words out of her mouth.  

“We have a responsibility to this community to not place it at risk,” Butler said.

Director Randy Jenco asked Enright whether the district had indicated to Rancho North developers that they would have water to develop by taking their money to expand the water treatment plants.

“Would we be liable for whatever it has cost to date plus the loss of the use of the property,” he asked.

“That’s why, if we are going to do a moratorium, and if we can’t augment the supply, I’d want to do it sooner than later with Rancho North,” the attorney responded. “I don’t want to be on the hook to pay for their lost profits or expenses they are going to incur trying to get entitled.”

Booth concluded the discussion with this comment: “Mr. Enright has cautioned us to move a little more cautiously and make sure we have dotted our ‘i’s’ and crossed our ‘t’s’,” he said. “The majority of the board favors spending some more time ferreting through some of the details.”

Background

Documenting a water emergency under Section 350 of the California Water Code might be challenging for the district. The consultants working on the Integrated Master Water Plan have already concluded the community would have enough water for future development if the district augments its water supply by using Clementia as source of drinking water and digging emergency wells. Their conclusion also assumes that the golf courses could be irrigated with river water and that an increase in recycled could offset the need for potable water.

However, two community activists, Merchant and Janis Eckard, a longtime critic, have conducted extensive research related to the past and current water plans. They have repeatedly informed board that the current study relies on inaccurate data and unachievable assumptions.

Lisa Maddaus, one of the consulting engineers, defended their work at the most recent town hall.

“I am not here to put fraudulent numbers together for you. Neither is Dan or his team,” she said. “We are all engineers and professionals.”

Addressing the plan at the June board meeting, President Tim Maybee said he wanted to make it clear “that decisions are not going to be made in the next days, weeks or months. We have numerous items to work through.”

More recently, questions arose as to whether  the Rio Oso Water tank could adequately supply the Residences East and West subdivision next to Stonehouse Park where the first phase of 68 lots is under construction. District engineer Joe Domenichelli  told the board that the district is “on the edge.” He said that the first phase of the subdivision would lower the tank water’s levels by less than a foot if it doesn’t allow lawns. However, Domenichelli wasn’t confident about all 198 lots. See the separate story in the July 26 printed edition of the River Valley Times.