The Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District is pleased to announce that the three remaining legal challenges to the agency’s state‐mandated Chloride Compliance Project and recycled water program have been resolved. This development will save Santa Clarita ratepayers from additional legal costs and enables the Chloride Compliance Project to be completed.

The plaintiff in the litigation was a group called the Affordable Clean Water Alliance represented by Attorney Robert Silverstein. Since 2013, ACWA has filed five lawsuits against the SCV Sanitation District all related to alleged failures to comply with California’s Environmental Quality Act. Two cases were resolved years ago. The SCV Sanitation District prevailed on ACWA’s third lawsuit but ACWA pursued an appeal that finally ended in February. ACWA’s fourth and fifth lawsuits were dismissed on Feb. 28.

The lawsuits were related to the SCV Sanitation District’s efforts to comply with state and federal mandates on the amount of chloride (salt) allowed in cleaned wastewater (sewage) discharged to the Santa Clara River and to support the increased use of recycled water in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The Chloride Compliance Project coupled with SCV voters’ 2008 approval of a first‐in‐the nation ban on home water softeners that add salt to the sewer system were intended to improve water quality in the Santa Clara River watershed. However, ACWA’s legal challenges delayed compliance with the state chloride mandate by two years and cost SCV ratepayers nearly $8 million. Further, these challenges delayed planning and implementation of SCV recycled water projects, which could have been particularly helpful to residents during this current historic drought.

“This has been a long, hard road to get to this point. I’m proud that we persevered and stuck up for what we knew to be legal and right,” said Laurene Weste, chairperson of the SCV Sanitation District Board. “While I agree with the intent of the California Environmental Quality Act, this series of lawsuits is a good example of how this law is abused to delay projects meant to protect the environment in order to generate financial settlements.”

The SCV Sanitation District serves the wastewater management needs of the Santa Clarita Valley. The agency protects public health and the environment by constructing, operating and maintaining a regional system that collects, treats and recycles wastewater from homes and businesses.