Water Recycling Act of 1991: mutual water companies: duplication of service.

(1) The Water Recycling Act of 1991 establishes a statewide goal to recycle a total of 1,000,000 acre-feet of water per year by the year 2010. In order to achieve this goal, the act requires retail water suppliers to identify potential uses for recycled water within their service areas, potential customers for recycled water service within their service areas, and, within a reasonable time, potential sources of recycled water. The act authorizes a retail water supplier that has identified a potential use or customer to apply to a recycled water producer or wholesaler for a recycled water supply and authorizes a recycled water producer or wholesaler that has identified a potential use or customer to request, in writing, a retail water supplier to enter into an agreement to provide recycled water to the potential customer. This bill would authorize a recycled water producer or wholesaler that has identified a potential use or customer within the service area or jurisdiction of the retail water supplier, to request, in writing, a retail water supplier to enter into an agreement to provide recycled water to the potential customer consistent with specified requirements of the act. The Water Recycling Act of 1991 includes specific requirements that are applicable only to a retail water supplier that is a public agency. This bill would extend those provisions to a mutual water company formed and operating pursuant to specified provisions of the Corporations Code. (2) Existing law states that the Legislature finds and declares that whenever a political subdivision, as defined, constructs facilities to provide or extend water service, or provides or extends water service, to any service area of a private utility, as defined, with the same type of service, this act constitutes a taking of the property of the private utility for a public purpose to the extent that the private utility is injured by reason of any of its property employed in providing the water service being made inoperative, reduced in value, or rendered useless to the private utility for the purpose of providing water service to the service area. Existing law requires that a political subdivision that makes such a taking of the property of a private water utility pay just compensation for the property taken for a public purpose. A mutual water company is a private utility for these purposes to the extent that its property is employed by the company in providing water service in or for a territory that is actually being provided with water service when the political subdivision constructs facilities to provide, or extends water service to, the territory serviced by the mutual water company. Existing law establishes an exception that is applicable only to Los Angeles County with respect to the use of reclaimed water. This bill would make inapplicable the provision that a mutual water company is a private utility entitled to just compensation for a taking in a territory it services at the time of the taking when a political subdivision constructs facilities to provide or extend recycled water service to the territory of the mutual water company, if the political subdivision complies with the Water Recycling Act of 1991. This exception would not apply to those customers and their properties to which the mutual water company was providing recycled water service, or for whom the mutual water company has identified and developed specific plans to provide recycled water service, as of December 31, 2014.