San Diego Water District outlines sweeping administrative code updates, adoption expected in September

Finance Manager Aguilar presented a comprehensive set of proposed changes to the San Diego Water District administrative code and told the board the last major update was in 2020. "The district's mission is to offer exceptional service to all our customers by managing our organization and water resources to meet evolving regulatory requirements and water supply needs," Aguilar read aloud as the proposed mission update, and described a series of targeted edits across the code.

Key changes Aguilar highlighted include updates to meeting-disruption procedures to align with recent city council practice, deletion of obsolete staff positions (removing the assistant general manager title and retitling senior engineer to principal engineer), formalizing grant-application guidance so the city manager may approve grants within purchasing-authority limits, and separating long-term capital projects from regular capital reserve calculations. Aguilar also described technical updates to backflow and cross-connection rules to reflect recent state guidance and new appendices addressing discontinuation-of-service policies and an appeals fee. The presentation referenced legal review by Best Best & Krieger and noted outside counsel Nick Norvell was available for questions.

Board members praised the draft for thoroughness and asked clarifying questions about procedural consistency with the city (Robert's Rules), quorum thresholds for fee and rate actions, records-retention periods, and the practical implications of new state rules such as the nonfunctional-turf ban. Aguilar said staff will return with an adoption item likely in September and that any budgetary implications would be reflected during the district's annual June budget adoption cycle.