Drinking water: County Water Company of Riverside water system: liability.

The Municipal Water District Law of 1911 provides for the formation of municipal water districts and grants to those districts specified powers. Existing law permits a district to acquire, control, distribute, store, spread, sink, treat, purify, recycle, recapture, and salvage any water for the beneficial use of the district, its inhabitants, or the owners of rights to water in the district. Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, provides for the operation of public water systems, and imposes on the State Department of Public Health various responsibilities and duties. Existing law requires the department to conduct research, studies, and demonstration projects relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, to adopt regulations to implement the California Safe Drinking Water Act, and to enforce provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. This bill would exempt the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and the Eastern Municipal Water District from liability for claims by past or existing County Water Company of Riverside customers or those consuming water provided through the County Water Company of Riverside water system concerning the operation and supply of water from the County Water Company of Riverside water system during the interim operation period, as specified, for any good faith, reasonable effort using ordinary care to assume possession of, and to operate and supply water to, the County Water Company of Riverside water system. This bill would provide that immunity from liability exists for all future claims by County Water Company of Riverside customers that will be served by Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and Eastern Municipal Water District after the termination of the interim operation period associated with those portions of the County Water Company of Riverside water system that are retained by the municipal water districts as part of the permanent replacement facilities, as specified. This bill would prohibit the immunity from liability from being construed either to relieve the municipal water districts from drinking water quality compliance obligations, as specified, or to extend to claims alleging the taking of property without compensation. This bill would require the interim operation period to last until permanent replacement facilities are accepted by the municipal water districts with the concurrence of the department, or December 31, 2015, whichever occurs first. This bill would require the department to extend the interim operation period for up to one year at the request of the municipal water districts, as prescribed. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.