Editor:
Riverside County has 61 independent California special districts — four California water districts, eight cemetery districts, one citrus pest control district, six community services districts, 10 county water districts, one fire protection district, four health care districts, two irrigation districts, three library districts, one metropolitan water district, two mosquito and vector control districts, five municipal water districts, four recreation and parks districts, six resource conservation districts, two sanitary districts and two water agencies.
Five of these 61 independent districts are on the mountain: Fern Valley and High Valleys water districts. Idyllwild, Pine Cove and Pinyon Pines county water districts, and Idyllwild Fire Protection District.
See www.lafco.org/sites/default/resources_links/Riverside_County_Special_Districts_Mailing_List.pdf.
The California Special District Association website at www.csda.net/about-special-districts has many links to government information about independent California special districts.
All mountain residents should read this information before giving up their rights of self government to Riverside County.
Another place for great information is the Fire Districts Association of California’s web page at www.fdac.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=7.
The mission of the FDAC is to provide legislative advocacy, educational information, member services and informational resources, and to promote special districts that perform fire protection services.
Coachella Valley Water District’s web page at cvmvcd.org/specialdistrict.htm also provides information about independent special districts.
As of 2008, there were only 2,184 independent special districts in California — 372 were for fire protection. See rvsd.org/Portals/0/Documents/pdfs/Local%20Districts%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf.
Northern California counties have the most independent districts for fire protection.
I am sure that those counties, the state, the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM all work closely with their fire protection districts, especially in wildfire and emergency situations.
Again, all mountain residents should read this information before giving up their rights of self government to Riverside County.
Christy Huss
Pinyon Pines
