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Laguna Beach mayor warns of long-term Colorado River risks, presses local water projects
Summary
After an inspection trip with the Metropolitan Water District, Mayor Alex Renaghi said underinvestment in regional infrastructure could raise water rates and stressed Laguna Beachefforts on a Fountain Valley well and desalination partnerships to increase local reliability.
Mayor Alex Renaghi said a recent inspection with the Metropolitan Water District underscored both the vision behind Southern California's water infrastructure and current underinvestment that he said could push rates higher and reduce supply reliability.
"They are only investing 6 tenths of 1% of their the total value of their infrastructure assets into their capital improvement budget every year," Renaghi said. "If you assume a hundred-year life cycle, you should be doing at least 1% a year. So they're investing about roughly half of what they should be ... we are going to be seeing ... water rates going up over time as the water supply also goes down." He described visiting the Hoover Dam and water-transfer facilities during a two-day inspection trip organized by the Metropolitan Water District.
Renaghi said the trip reinforced the importance of local water reliability. He listed two local projects the city is pursuing: working with Newport Beach on a well in Fountain Valley and partnering with South Coast Water District on desalination. "We're working with Newport Beach on the well in Fountain Valley, which I believe we're going to get approval from Fountain Valley in October and then hopefully we'll have a signed agreement by November," Renaghi said.
The mayor said the projects aim to reduce Laguna Beach's dependence on the Metropolitan board's supplies. He described the Colorado River aqueduct system, built decades ago, as an example of earlier large infrastructure investments and said current capital spending shortfalls will compound as costs rise.
Renaghi did not provide contract specifics, cost estimates or final approvals on the podcast. He framed the proposals as ongoing interagency partnerships rather than finalized city actions.
