Santa Cruz County Lawsuit Against SLVWD

In May of 2021 the SLVWD Board of Directors revealed that the County had sued SLVWD accusing the water district of “negligently” and “carelessly” maintaining a water pipe under Bear Creek Road at the 1.7-mile marker. The suit alleges that on January 28, 2020, the pipe leaked, causing the road to partially collapse. However, nine years before the road collapse, the District notified the County that the section of Bear Creek Road in question was failing. In the District’s view, the road collapse damaged the pipe, precisely the opposite of what the County is claiming.

It is unclear why the County believes the District to be at fault and why the County has chosen such an adversarial approach. The District’s Board of Directors released the following statement from its closed session meeting on June 17th: The consensus of the Board was to direct the District Manager to communicate to Supervisor McPherson's office to propose a meeting of principals in an effort to resolve the County's lawsuit against the District.

FSLVW Article in Santa Cruz Sentinel by James Mosher

NOTE (8/5/21): The County has accepted the District’s proposal to convene a meeting of principals to discuss this matter further.