Fallbrook and Rainbow water districts to hold town hall meeting May 2

FALLBROOK – The Fallbrook Public Utility District and Rainbow Municipal Water District will co-host their third town hall meeting May 2 at 6 p.m. to update ratepayers on the districts’ efforts to change water suppliers.

The event, to be held at FPUD’s main office, will include introductory remarks by FPUD Board President Dave Baxter and Rainbow Board President Hayden Hamilton. It will feature presentations by FPUD General Manager Jack Bebee, Rainbow General Manager Tom Kennedy, as well as Keene Simonds, the executive officer of the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission. Currently, LAFCO is reviewing the two water districts’ applications to switch suppliers and will vote on the issue later this year.

Also expected to attend is San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who serves as chairman of LAFCO.

Due to rising water costs, the two districts are seeking to change water suppliers from the San Diego County Water Authority to the Eastern Municipal Water District. By doing so, FPUD and Rainbow ratepayers would save approximately $7.6 million a year, according to an independent analysis conducted by LAFCO.

Over the last decade, water costs from the San Diego County Water Authority have risen an average of 8% per year. Over the next five years, those costs are projected to rise another 50%, according to the Water Authority’s Long-Range Financing Plan.

The two districts say the water provided by Eastern would be just as reliable as the water provided by the Water Authority because it would come from the same sources and delivered through the same pipelines as those used by the Water Authority. An independent consultant, hired by LAFCO, concluded that Eastern has the wherewithal to meet the water needs of Fallbrook and Rainbow well into the future.

LAFCO is governed by appointed local and elected officials, and is responsible for overseeing the establishment, expansion and boundary changes of cities and special districts, including water districts. If LAFCO approves the proposed switch, voters in Fallbrook and Rainbow would have the final say in an election held in each of the two districts’ service areas.

Eastern, which was established in 1950, serves more than 850,000 people living and working in Riverside County. It provides water within the cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Perris, Menifee and several other cities and unincorporated communities.