El Toro Water District

Last updated
El Toro Water District
El Toro Water District Logo.jpg
Special district overview
FormedSeptember 1960 (1960-09)
Headquarters 24251 Los Alisos Blvd, Lake Forest, CA
Special district executive
  • Dennis Cafferty, General Manager
Website https://www.etwd.com

The El Toro Water District (ETWD) is an independent special district that provides water and sewer service to Laguna Woods and portions of Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, and Aliso Viejo.

Contents

The district is a member of the South Orange County Wastewater Authority. [1]

History

Shortly after formation of the District in 1960, preparations began for anticipated growth in South Orange County. ETWD issued a bond in 1961 to fund an aqueduct, water filtration plant, reservoir, and expanding the water distribution system. [2]

Ross Cortese, developer of Leisure World, identified a few thousand acres of land near Laguna Hills in the ETWD service area that he wanted to develop in 1963. Initially skeptical, the Board agreed to provide water to ranchers in the area while the newly formed Rossmoor Water Company would provide domestic water service. [3]

By 1970, the need for a regional sewer system became apparent. Rossmoor Sanitation, a private company, initially provided some sewer services but was ineligible to receive federal or state grant funding. ETWD, on behalf of Rossmoor Sanitation, and six other agencies then formed the Aliso Water Management Agency (AWMA). [3]

When the district was formed, it was a "landowner district" where votes for its Board of Directors were awarded exclusively to landowners on a basis of one vote for each dollar of assessed value. [3] [4] In 1981, Assembly Bill 368 by Assemblymember Marian Bergeson transitioned ETWD from a landowning district to a resident owning district. [3] [5]

The Laguna Hills Utility Company, parent company of the Rossmoor Water Company, now called the Laguna Hills Water Company, and Rossmoor Sanitation, now called Laguna Hills Sanitation, proposed to the ETWD Board that the District acquire their operations in 1982. In September of 1983, ETWD agreed to the purchase of both companies, acquiring sewer services and become a water retailer rather than wholesaler. [2] [3] [6]

A 1996 bill by Speaker Curt Pringle proposed merging ETWD with the Moulton Niguel Water District, though the bill ultimately did not pass. [7] In 2002, the Moulton Niguel Water District studied consolidation with ETWD. Ultimately, both Boards decided not to move forward with the merger. [3] [8]

The 2000 consolidation of the Irvine Ranch Water District and the Los Alisos Water District raised concerns in the ETWD service area. Talks included ceding territory to IRWD or including the entire ETWD area in consolidation discussions. [9] The district remains independent.

Governance

The El Toro County Water District is governed by a five-member Board of Directors, each elected to a four-year term by district. The current members of the Board are:

Board MemberTerm beganTerm ends
Mike Gaskins20222026
Kathryn Freshley20222026
Mark Monin20242028
Kay Havens20242028
Wyatt McClean20242026

References

  1. ↑ "Member Agencies | SOCWA" . Retrieved 2025-12-23.
  2. 1 2 "History of El Toro Water District - El Toro Water District". 2014-12-08. Retrieved 2025-12-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "El Toro Water District 1960-2010" (PDF). Historical Society of Laguna Woods. June 2010. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  4. ↑ Hall, Len (1993-04-04). "O.C. Water District: From Obscurity to Notoriety : Utilities: Conflict-of-interest allegations put formerly little-known Santa Margarita agency in the spotlight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  5. ↑ "Statutes of California 1981-1982 Regular Session: 1981 Chapters" (PDF). California Clerk of the Assembly. 1982. pp. 1241–1245. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  6. ↑ Hall, Len (1994-05-27). "Private Firm Makes Bid for Water District : Utilities: Subsidiary of American Water Works Co. would pay more than $300 million for the beleaguered Santa Margarita agency and assume its outstanding debt". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-12-23.
  7. ↑ Bailey, Eric (1996-09-01). "Senate Sinks Pringle Bill to Merge Water Districts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-12-23.
  8. ↑ "Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study for South Orange County II" (PDF). Orange County LAFCO . May 2007. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  9. ↑ Min, Tami (2000-06-09). "LAGUNA WOODS". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-12-23.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.