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DEC. 6, 2013
THE COAST NEWS
SDWA persists in water cost war By Rachel Stine
A Sheriff’s deputy takes rifles out of the trunk of a car during Guns for Gift Cards on Nov. 30 at MiraCosta College. The event aimed to safely dispose of firearms. Photo courtesy of San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
Nearly 900 guns turned in for gift cards MiraCosta College. The purpose of the ENCINITAS — People exchanged 899 firearms for Guns for Gift Cards event gift cards — no questions was to safely dispose of asked — on Nov. 30 at unwanted firearms that
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could accidentally hurt a child or be used in a crime, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Mario Zermeno. The gathered firearms were eventually melted down, he said. By way of comparison, the previous Guns for Gift Cards event, held this past spring in San Marcos, netted 208 guns. “I’m not aware of another event like this in Southern California resulting in so many (firearms),” Zermeno said. Zermeno attributed the increase in firearms collected to media coverage getting the word out in advance, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department emphasizing the safety aspect and the location’s accessibility. Each handgun was worth a $100 Walmart gift card, with rifles and other types of firearms worth $150 Walmart gift cards. Zermeno said Walmart was not a partner in the event. All told, the Sheriff’s department awarded more than $100,000 in gift cards,
according to Zermeno. About $95,000 came from asset forfeiture funds and money seized from illegal activity. The county District Attorney’s office contributed the remaining $5,000. The firearm total included handguns, shotguns, rifles and one hand grenade. The Carlsbad Police Department and Oceanside Police Department also participated in the event. Guns can always be dropped at Sheriff’s Department stations Monday through Friday during business hours. To do so, people should leave unloaded guns in the trunks of their cars and inform a receptionist. However, those who turn in a firearm to the Sheriff’s Department stations will not receive a gift card, and they must submit personal information for an evidence report. Zermeno said he’s not sure when or where the next Guns for Gift Cards will take place.
REGION — Though working on diversifying its water supply sources, SDWA (San Diego Water Authority) will remain reliant on the supplier it is suing over water costs. The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) is the primary supplier of imported water for six counties in Southern California, San Diego County included. For decades, MWD has provided the vast majority of the water that SDWA flows into the county’s homes and businesses. In 1991, MWD supplied 95 percent of the county’s water, with the rest coming from local water sources. In recent years, the SDWA has realized the potential cost and supply dangers of depending on one source for such a vital resource. Speaking before the Carlsbad City Council on Dec. 3, the chair of the SDWA Board of Directors Thomas Wornham emphasized how SDWA has focused on diversifying its water supplies. SDWA has spent $2 billion over the past 10 years to develop a variety of water sources, desalinated seawater from the forthcoming Carlsbad Desalination Plant and other local sources among them, Wornham said. But MWD still remains SDWA’s primary water provider. Today, the MWD supplies nearly half of the water SDWA distributes throughout the county. Payments to MWD make up 80 percent of SDWA’s water costs. Over recent years, SDWA has become concerned by the rising costs its major supplier has been charging. “We don’t have much control over how (MWD) allocates the cost,” said SDWA General Manager Maureen Stapleton. SDWA began to clash
with MWD when it arranged to purchase water from the Imperial Irrigation District but have the water delivered through MWD’s pipes. Authorities at SDWA believe that the agency is being overcharged by MWD for transporting the water from the Imperial Irrigation District, according to Stapleton. “We believe they are overcharging us by $57 million alone this year,” she said. With 16 percent of this year’s water supply coming from the Imperial Irrigation District, SDWA filed a lawsuit against MWD in 2010 asserting that the supplier was overcharging for the water delivery. The case will go to trial Dec. 17. Statements from MWD contend that SDWA is attempting to undermine the supplier’s regional cost-share model for San Diego’s exclusive benefit. “SDCWA’s lawsuit seeks to avoid paying its share of maintaining this transportation system — at the expense of the system’s other users,” read a statement from MWD’s legal department about the lawsuit. Wornham said that assuming that the ruling from the Dec. 17 trial is appealed, the legal battle with MWD should conclude by 2016. Despite the lawsuit and its efforts to diversify its water supply, SDWA has no choice but to rely on MWD for a significant portion of the county’s water supply for the foreseeable future. By 2020, MWD will remain SDWA’s primary water supplier, providing an estimated 30 percent of the county’s water. “There is a place for (MWD) in our portfolio, but we need to make sure that we have, via diversification, our future in our hands,” Wornham said.