Ventura County Waterworks District No. 5 v. Public Utilies Commission

The Camino Water Company applied to the Public Utilities Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to extend its public utility water service to Area No. 1 and Area No. 2, which are adjacent to its presently certified area near the unincorporated community of Camarillo. Area No. 1 is also adjacent to land included in and served by Ventura County Waterworks District No. 5. The district was organized under the County Waterworks District Law (Wat. Code, § 55000 et seq.) and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the commission. The district applied for a hearing pursuant to section 1005 of the Public Utilities Code to protest Camino’s application for a certificate to serve Area No. 1.

At the hearing it was stipulated that Area No. 1 was not within the boundaries of the district; that no proceedings to annex Area No. 1 to the district had been commenced; and that, with the exception of service to one ranch under a contract for surplus water, no owner of land in Area No. 1 had requested service from the district. On the basis of this stipulation, the hearing examiner sustained Camino’s objection to the district’s offer to prove that it could provide better and…