Last fall, Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 634 into law. The bill by Sen. Scott Wilk eliminated the Castaic Lake Water Agency and Newhall County Water District, replacing them with a new water agency.

Fast forward a couple of months. The Santa Clarita Water Agency was set to hold its inaugural meeting Tuesday night and install former CLWA and NCWD board members who will make up the new board of the SCV Water Agency, said Kathie Martin, the SCVWA’s public information officer.

“All familiar faces,” Martin said, “but with new roles.”

One such face will be General Manager Matt Stone, who had been named general manager of the CLWA in December 2015. Stone said he is excited to implement a new approach to regional water in the Santa Clarita Valley – a process that was two years in the making, with a lot of collaboration and community input.

“Our priority throughout the process has been the customer, and SCV Water customers can expect the same friendly people providing the same great water service,” Stone said prior to Tuesday night’s meeting. “Combined resources mean economies of scale, and the cost savings over time will partially reduce future water rate increases and provide enhanced services.”

Matt Stone will be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the new Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency.

No more overlapping service areas where NCWD water lines have to skip past Santa Clarita Water District zones to serve Castaic, Tesoro del Valle and Pinetree. Now, all water lines and pumping stations will be operated by the same agency.

Serving the entire valley, the new agency will assume the duties of the former CLWA and NCWD. Val Verde will continue to be served by the county-run Water Works District 36.

The new agency is divided into three electoral regions – a decision that was put in place to be compliant with the California Voting Rights Act, Stone said.

“The new agency also brings evenly sized electoral divisions, ensuring an equal voice come election time,” Stone said. “The environment benefits as well, as we have expanded opportunities to fund and implement water resource, habitat restoration and water quality initiatives within the Upper Santa Clara River Watershed.”

For more on Matt Stone and the rest of SCVWA’s Management Team, click [here], or [watch] a half-hour Newsmaker program on the subject.