Building a New Vision for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: Options for Key Policy Decisions
Abstract
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) is currently reevaluating its vision for its role in the Southern California water industry. This vision is about how water is priced and allocated in Southern California. It is about the set of policies and programs that determine infrastructure investments and how they are paid for. And, perhaps most fundamentally, it is about the division of responsibilities between MWD and the private and other public agencies involved in importing, storing, treating and distributing water in Southern California. This paper identifies the key issues that such a vision must address and explores a range of policy options for each. It's goal is to help the MWD board and other stakeholders more effectively develop, discuss, and evaluate alternative visions. The analysis draws on over 100 in-person and telephone interviews with a broad range of individuals and organizations. The perspectives represented include MWD directors, MWD staff, staff of MWD member agencies, agriculture, private water suppliers, environmental groups, the financial and business community, California legislators, state and federal agencies involved in water issues, and water policy experts. The interviews were conducted between July and September 1998 by staff from RAND, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bookman-Edmonston Engineering, Psomas, and The Solis Group. This work is funded by MWD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA376094
Entities
People
- Ed Edelman
- Ellen Pint
- Jim Dewar
- Lloyd Dixon
- Robert Reichardt
Organizations
- RAND Corporation