Southern California’s two largest water agencies announced Monday that they have settled a 15-year legal dispute over the price of water transferred between them.
What happened: Under the settlement agreement, the San Diego County Water Authority will pay the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California a fixed charge per ton of water delivered instead of one tied to Met’s fluctuating rates.
Why this matters: The agreement ends an acrimonious chapter in Southern California’s water wars during which San Diego and Los Angeles power players fought in regional water agency boardrooms as well as the courtroom.
It also frees the San Diego County Water Authority — which is currently facing an existential threat because of lower-than-expected water sales — to cut deals with other water agencies to offload some of its unneeded water. San Diego has spent heavily in the past two decades on both importing and desalinating water.
