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Superior Court Approves Injunction Against The City Of Pico Rivera

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Water Replenishment District (WRD) logo. (PRNewsFoto/Water Replenishment District of Southern California)

Pico Rivera to Pay Outstanding Water Bills to WRD or Stop Pumping Groundwater

LAKEWOOD, Calif., Oct. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ralph W. Dau issued a tentative ruling yesterday in favor of an injunction against the City of Pico Rivera, filed by the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD). WRD filed the injunction to stop Pico Rivera from pumping groundwater because the city has not paid its monthly replenishment assessment (RA) for over two years, and owes more than $2 million dollars to WRD.

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Judge Dau's approval of the injunction requires Pico Rivera to pay its outstanding bills to WRD within 10 days or discontinue pumping groundwater it sells to its retail customers. WRD, other area groundwater pumpers, and ratepayers applaud the judge's decision as a ruling that protects the long-term health of the region's groundwater basins. In April 2013, Judge Dau also granted an injunction to WRD against Texas oil giant, Tesoro Corporation, which owed WRD nearly $1 million in groundwater replenishment fees for water the oil company pumped and did not pay for.

"We are very pleased with this ruling by Judge Dau, which sends a strong message that the well being of our local groundwater basins is of utmost importance," said Rob Katherman, WRD Board President. "For one city to decide it will not pay for the water it extracts and then resells to its businesses and residents jeopardizes the safety and reliability of these groundwater basins which supply water to millions of people. The message is clear; if you extract water from this shared public resource, you must pay your fair share to replenish that vital public resource."

Learn more about WRD at www.wrd.org.

Formed by a vote of the people in 1959, the Water Replenishment District of Southern California is the regional groundwater management agency to over ten percent of California's population residing in 43 cities in southern Los Angeles County. WRD is governed by a publicly elected Board of Directors which includes Willard H. Murray, Jr., Robert Katherman, Lynn V. Dymally, Sergio Calderon, and Albert Robles.