Thomas Mountain Mutual Water Association (TMMWA), in Garner Valley, and the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District (LHMWD) are working with the Small Community Technical Assistance of the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to evaluate the merits of a possible consolidation.
The technical assistance review will require at least a year or more, according to Patty Anderson, TMMWA president, and LHMWD General Manager Michael Gow.
Gow has provided some information to his board, but the LHMWD board has not discussed the issue. Gow emphasized, “Nothing has been determined including LHMWD’s or TMMWA’s willingness to move forward, if any connection to the existing system will be part of it, the management or organizational structure of LHMWD’s involvement, improvements, funding, etc.”
The idea originated more than a year ago. In February 2022, Anderson wrote SWRCB at the suggestion of county staff at the Environmental Health Department, requesting a review of a possible consolidation. In her letter, Anderson acknowledged that the TMMWA board had voted to explore the consolidation option, including costs and technical issues. However, she firmly stated, a decision on whether to pursue a consolidation would await the completion of a feasibility study. and the advantages and disadvantages discussed in it.
The possibility of a consolidation and the need for a letter were discussed at the TMMWA board meeting that month. Some of the reasons to pursue the idea were the difficulty in getting volunteers to staff the work and continuing costs to restore infrastructure, at the state’s urging, which could need major repairs. The board also deferred a decision on whether to follow through on the county recommendation to seek an emergency connection with LHMWD.
Anderson also informed Gow last February that TMMWA had written to the SWRCB. In his response, he acknowledged this was a big issue with many facets. “Annexation, construction, system evaluation, infrastructure integrity, water rights, water quality, financial and political factors all will be part of the process. As much as LHMWD may want to help, LHMWD, as a governmental municipality, would be very cautious to protect its existing rate payers/customers from having to incur any increased costs.”
In his February 2023 letter to the SWRCB, Gow underscored that the district would work with the state to determine the needed improvements, funding and management arrangement.
And he added, stressing, “Lake Hemet MWD staff concurs with conducting such a technical assistance review. Please understand this not a commitment by LHMWD in any form and is only intended to advance the matter with the state.”
While the SWRCB technical assistance review has not yet started, and all parties indicate it will take at least a year to complete, Gow mentioned several potential technical issues in his letter to the state.
“Our initial assessments are that TMMWA’s aging system needs complete replacement to provide redundant sources of supply, adequate storage, flow capacity (e.g., fire flow) access from public right[s]-of-ways, and removal of asbestos cement and lead piping. All costs associated with a potential consolidation, including design, construction, administrative and operational must not be incurred by LHMWD.”
