Would a single county-wide water agency solve the drought?

The MSR identified several challenges to forming a countywide water agency or district, including:

  • Achieving agency consensus on forming a single governance
  • Maintaining local control over water service
  • Agency representation within a countywide provider
  • Revenue generation
  • Changes to existing water rates, and
  • Redefining existing agency roles.

It should also be noted that there are multiple agencies (Federal, State, and local) involved in regulating and supplying water. The LAFCO study identified 14 cities, town, and districts that provide water service. There are also over 150 community water systems, and transient and non-transient non-community water systems. This is in addition to the thousands of individual domestic and agricultural wells. These water systems and wells are not inter-connected into an integrated water supply system of pipes and canals; there is no ability to move water from where it is plentiful to where it is needed without trucking. The level of complexity and effort required to develop a plan for countywide water distribution would take many years to complete (assuming that all parties were agreeable and no outside parties litigated) and would not provide any immediate solutions for the current emergency. 

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1. What role does the State Water Project (SWP) play in the GSP?
2. What did the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) recommend in their Municipal Service Review (MSR) and how does that affect the GSA?
3. Would a single county-wide water agency solve the drought?
4. What steps is City of Napa taking to limit the sale of trucked water to residents in the unincorporated area?
5. Return to the Groundwater FAQ page