Hewitt

The petitioners James O. Hewitt and other named individuals (Hewitt) are taxpaying landowners and water users within the Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District (Rincon). Rincon is a public agency organized in 1954 under the provisions of the Municipal Water District Law of 1911, and originally included lands located outside the boundaries of the City of Escondido (City). Because of annexations to the City, certain lands now lie within both Rincon and the City. However, a major portion of Rincon’s territory still remains outside City’s boundaries. For many years, City has owned and operated its own municipal water system. Prior agreements between City and Rincon have provided for certain interconnections between the two water systems and for the allocation of designated primary service areas for each competing district. These prior agreements have given rise to past litigation.

In July 1972, City and Rincon entered into an “Operational Merger Agreement,” the immediate object of which was to settle a pending lawsuit. The long-range objective was to fully merge their respective water systems by interconnections into a single system, with the City being its exclusive…