WATER AGENCY PUTS HOLD ON EMPOWERING PROPOSAL.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The Santa Clarita Valley's largest water provider has halted a controversial legislative proposal that would have expanded its powers and reinforced its right to sell water through its recently acquired subsidiary, the Santa Clarita Water Co.

The proposal was forwarded to Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, several weeks ago without the input or knowledge of the Castaic Lake Water Agency's publicly elected board of directors. Runner has not yet decided whether he will sponsor the legislation.

If passed in the Legislature, the proposal would have given the agency the same rights as the Newhall County Water District, a public entity that sells water at retail prices to over 6,700 customers. Since the CLWA is a wholesale provider of imported state water, it is unclear if it has the right to sell water at retail through the SCWC.

Agency officials say they have tabled the proposal, which would have to be ready in final form by Feb. 25 to be eligible for the current legislative session.

In a press release Friday, CLWA board President William Cooper said the agency halted the proposal to ``take additional time to discuss with the community those benefits that such an authority would provide to the residents of Santa Clarita Valley.''

CLWA General Manager Robert Sagehorn also reaffirmed his agency's retail water authority Friday.

``We presently have authority to operate at retail,'' he said in an interview. He did not elaborate on exactly what the proposal would have meant for the agency if it already has retail powers.

The agency's retail authority has been challenged in a lawsuit by four Santa Clarita residents. The residents claim the agency's $63 million purchase of the SCWC, finalized last August, was illegal because the CLWA cannot operate a retail water company under state law. And they say the purchase gave the CLWA a dangerous monopoly over the valley's water supply.

But the decision to delay the controversial plan has not affected another legislative proposal, according to CLWA officials.

The second proposal - also forwarded to Runner's office before it was presented to the CLWA's board of directors - would give the agency the ability to halt water deliveries to Santa Clarita Valley water customers who do not pay connection fees to the CLWA.

The proposal was spurred by the agency's struggle with Robinson Ranch, a 36-hole golf course project that has refused to pay millions of dollars in connection fees to the agency. Connection fees are designed to pay for the cost of connecting customers to the imported state water that the CLWA provides to the area's four water retailers, including the Newhall County Water District and the Santa Clarita Water Company.

Robinson Ranch developers insist that they do not have to pay the fees, and Sagehorn said his agency currently does not have the ability to force the Santa Clarita Water Co. to deny service to Robinson Ranch because of unpaid connection fees.

Runner said he will meet with the CLWA and the city of Santa Clarita on Tuesday to discuss the proposed legislation.

``I'm not interested in proposing legislation that's going to be opposed by factions in the Santa Clarita Valley,'' he said. ``I just want to get the parties together that will be most concerned about the issue.''

Runner said he could not yet explain the legislation because it has not yet been drafted by the legislative counsel's office. Sagehorn said the agency presented concepts to Runner's office and that he has no written records of the proposals.