The independent districts that govern water supply and sewage treatment in Montecito are moving in the direction of consolidation, setting aside a study that appears to undermine the rationale for creating one big agency. The Summerland sewage, or 鈥渟anitary,鈥� district is in the mix, too, waiting to see what its neighbors will do.
The Montecito Water District, founded in 1921, serves a population of nearly 12,000 people in Montecito, Summerland and Toro Canyon today. In recent years, the water board has been promoting the idea of consolidation, which could mean swallowing up the nearby sanitary districts or joining with them to form one full-service agency.
This Jan. 27, the water board took the first official step toward consolidation, approving a draft memorandum of understanding for all three district board presidents to sign. Last week, the draft MOU was on the agenda for a vote by the board of the Montecito Sanitary District, an agency that was founded in 1947.