Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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For its litany of problems, it’s been hard to kill the tiny Sativa Los Angeles County Water District.
It has survived scandals involving financial instability, nepotism, poor maintenance and mismanagement.
Then in the last year, brown, smelly water started coming out of the taps — giving county and state officials what they believe is their best chance to close the embattled water district once and for all.
But it won’t be easy.
The first challenge is economic: Sativa delivers inexpensive water to 1,600 homes in Compton and Willowbrook — and finding a replacement has been hard.
The second is legal: Laws intended to thwart government overreach make it difficult to close a district — even one as troubled as Sativa.
L.A. County residents receive drinking water from one of 220 community water systems. The population served per system ranges from the 25 customers of Winterhaven Mobile Estates in Antelope Valley to the 4 million customers of L.A. Department of Water and Power, according to a 2015 UCLA report.
More than 130 water agencies in the county serve fewer than 10,000 people each, the UCLA report found. Sativa, like many small water districts, pumps groundwater locally and delivers it through pipes to customers’ homes. A 1965 court order granted the district free access to 474 acre-feet per year from the central groundwater basin, which stretches from east L.A. County to the San Gabriel Valley. Sativa can lease additional water as needed.
Customers pay a flat rate of $65 a month, which brings in close to $1.3 million in revenue to Sativa Los Angeles County Water District. Residents of other parts of Compton who receive water through the city’s Municipal Water Department pay an average household bill of about $100 per month.
But that cheap water comes at a cost.
Abolishing a water district isn't easy — even when it's accused of nepotism, mismanagement and delivering brown water
But privatizing it is better? California has a c. If there is funding available then why have they taken so long to request it?
Brown water is not ok.
It has survived scandals involving financial instability, nepotism, poor maintenance and mismanagement.
Then in the last year, brown, smelly water started coming out of the taps — giving county and state officials what they believe is their best chance to close the embattled water district once and for all.
But it won’t be easy.
The first challenge is economic: Sativa delivers inexpensive water to 1,600 homes in Compton and Willowbrook — and finding a replacement has been hard.
The second is legal: Laws intended to thwart government overreach make it difficult to close a district — even one as troubled as Sativa.
L.A. County residents receive drinking water from one of 220 community water systems. The population served per system ranges from the 25 customers of Winterhaven Mobile Estates in Antelope Valley to the 4 million customers of L.A. Department of Water and Power, according to a 2015 UCLA report.
More than 130 water agencies in the county serve fewer than 10,000 people each, the UCLA report found. Sativa, like many small water districts, pumps groundwater locally and delivers it through pipes to customers’ homes. A 1965 court order granted the district free access to 474 acre-feet per year from the central groundwater basin, which stretches from east L.A. County to the San Gabriel Valley. Sativa can lease additional water as needed.
Customers pay a flat rate of $65 a month, which brings in close to $1.3 million in revenue to Sativa Los Angeles County Water District. Residents of other parts of Compton who receive water through the city’s Municipal Water Department pay an average household bill of about $100 per month.
But that cheap water comes at a cost.
Abolishing a water district isn't easy — even when it's accused of nepotism, mismanagement and delivering brown water
But privatizing it is better? California has a c. If there is funding available then why have they taken so long to request it?
Brown water is not ok.
