City of Riverside sues State over cutback amount

With Governor Jerry Brown’s new mandatory water restrictions to help combat the California drought, many cities and water agencies are not happy about the cutbacks. The City of Riverside, located in the Inland Empire, was no exception. The difference is how the city decided to combat the issue; they are now suing the state to reclaim their water rights.

For years, Riverside has worked to become water independent. They did this by building a $10 million dollar water treatment facility, where they combined groundwater rights with those of private companies they purchased. According to the city, they have not imported water from outside sources for almost seven years. They have, instead, relied on an abundant groundwater supply, which has been unreduced due to the drought.

“We recognize the dire nature of the drought and believe Governor Brown’s call to action is timely, necessary and visionary for the state,” the city said in a statement. “However, the one-size-fits all mandate applies a set of regulations without regard to Riverside’s position of having adequate water supplies.”

Although Governor Brown’s cutbacks were a statewide initiative to address the California drought, city officials feel their cutback rate of 28 percent is unjustified. Since they are water independent, they feel their cutback rate should be that of the four percent tier.

“We are 100% independent in terms of our water supply,” Mayor Rusty Bailey told The Los Angeles Times. “We believe we should be treated differently than everybody else. It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation.”

According to city officials, Riverside bought private water companies that held groundwater rights. They then built a $100 million dollar water plant where they drilled new wells and captured storm water from the Seven Oaks Dam. Of that $100 million, $10 million dollars was spent on building recycled water infrastructure.

The Bunker Hill Basin has at least 1.4 million acre feet of storage left and maybe as much as 5.4 million acre feet.

Mayor Bailey is hopeful the city and state will come to a conclusion on being included in the 4 percent tier. He is hopeful the city and the state can move forward without legal action.