ADVISORY/Metropolitan, City of Hemet to Dedicate Parkway Entrance to Diamond Valley Lake to Pioneering Family; Seven Generations of Searl Family Lived in Diamond Valley.

News Editors/Assignment Desks

ADVISORY...for Saturday (Nov. 22)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

WHAT:    The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and
         the city of Hemet dedicate parkway entrance to Diamond Valley
         Lake to historic Searl family. Seven generations of the
         family lived and were raised on Diamond Valley area ranch.

WHEN:    Saturday, Nov. 22
         11:30 a.m.

WHERE:   Diamond Valley Lake Visitor Center, located at the lake's
         east end along Newport Road, just west of the State Street
         intersection in Hemet. Map/driving directions available
         online at www.dvlake.com.

PARTICIPANTS:

         Phillip J. Pace, chairman of Metropolitan's board of
         directors; Riverside County Supervisor Jim Venable; Lori Van
         Arsdale, mayor, city of Hemet; Randy Record, Metropolitan
         director representing Eastern Municipal Water District;
         Ronald R. Gastelum, Metropolitan's president/chief executive
         officer; Mark Searl and other family members

BACKGROUND:

         After more than 100 years of family farming in Diamond
         Valley, the Searl family sold Metropolitan their 4,200-acre
         ranch in 1989 to make way for what became Southern
         California's largest drinking water lake, Diamond Valley
         Lake.

         The newly named Searl Parkway provides the gateway from the
         Domenigoni Parkway to the lake's east recreation area. Searl
         Parkway will eventually provide access to the Center for
         Water Education and the Western Center for Archaeology and
         Paleontology, as well as the Valley-Wide Recreation and Park
         District's community park and aquatic center.