Our History

Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District is located in northern San Diego County, approximately 25 miles north of the City of San Diego, California. The District consists of a parent district, two water improvement districts, and a fire district. The Parent District encompasses 26,760 acres (42 square miles), and serves approximately 29,098 people through its two Improvement Districts. The District's infrastructure system consists of 7,748 water meters, 134 miles of pipeline, four potable and 2 recycled water pump stations, and 10 potable storage reservoirs containing 26 million gallons of water. The District's service area is located partially within the City of Escondido, partially within San Diego County, and also serves small areas of the cities of San Marcos and San Diego. The fire district serves 11,000 people with fire and rescue services.

The District derives its name from Rancho Rincon del Diablo. In 1843, Juan Bautista Alvarado received the Rancho as a land grant after the area fell from the auspice of the Mission San Diego de Alcala. The land, no longer part of the mission system was considered unblessed, hence the Spanish translation, "the devil's corner," or "the devil's lurking place." This tract of land contained 12,653 acres.

In 1885, a group of businessmen purchased the Rancho and subdivided it into small farm tracts and the City of Escondido. During this period, agricultural operations included row crops, tree crops, and cattle. One year later, an irrigation district was formed and bonds were sold to develop a water supply system from the local San Luis Rey River. A dam was constructed at Lake Wohlford and by 1905 the Escondido Mutual Water Company, a private entity, acquired the irrigation district facilities. The company continued to improve the diversion canal and distribution system to supply its stockholders with irrigation and domestic water.

From its incorporation in 1888 until 1951, the City of Escondido consisted of a three-mile area which today lies in the center of Rincon's Parent District. Following World War II, the Escondido Valley experienced a period of rapid growth. As Escondido grew, Escondido Mutual continued to serve water obtained through local sources until demand outpaced supply.

Also during this post-war growth, the valley experienced drought, which heightened the need for an imported supply of water to supplement and support the growing residential community, both inside and outside the City limits. Colorado River and Northern California water imported by public agencies (the San Diego County Water Authority, and its supplier, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) became the best option. However, because the local supplier, Escondido Mutual Water Company, was not a public entity, it was prohibited, by law, to purchase water from a public supplier. So, to provide residents legal access to imported water, Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District was incorporated on February 19, 1954, under the provisions of the Municipal Water District Act of 1911.

General powers and authority were granted to the District and the boundaries created by this incorporation are known as the Parent District. The Board members then declared its intent to construct a distribution system, and thus a special election was called for voters to approve the issuance of debt to build such a system. The non-government entity, the Escondido Mutual Water Company, was operating partially within the Parent District, so at that time there was only an interest in constructing a public distribution system in two areas of the District, now known as Improvement District 1 (ID1), formed on January 26, 1955, and located in the western part of the Parent District; and, Improvement District A (IDA), formed on December 12, 1961, and located in the southern part of the Parent District. Currently, the District's only bonded indebtedness is a $3 million water revenue-funding bond. The District's water source for ID1 is the San Diego County Water Authority's First Aqueduct. The City of Escondido supplies water to IDA.

The California Water Code allows Municipal Water Districts to serve other purposes: recreation; sewage; waste and storm water disposal; fire protection; water replenishment assessment; and, sanitation service (Chapter 3 Sections 71660 through 71689.27). On December 7, 1976, the Rincon del Diablo Fire Protection District was formed under these powers. Now known as Improvement District E, it was formed to provide a source of local fire protection and representation for residents outside the city limits. Thirteen years later, in 1989, the possession, operation, and management of the fire operations were transferred to the City of Escondido. Today, the District maintains the responsibility for the collection of revenues that are forwarded to the City to cover the operational expenses of providing fire and rescue services to 13,000 people, The District also collects fees for and supervises the annual Weed Abatement Program. There is no bonded indebtedness for the fire district.

The $2.7 million recycled water project was built using state loan and grant funds. Additional incentive funds are received from the San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. In 2006-07 the District served 52 connections with 1,083.3 acre-feet of recycled water.

The District employs 21 people (20 full-time). The District is governed by a five-member Board of Directors elected by voters within respective geographic divisions for staggered four-year terms. "The District, by law, must be divided into five divisions in such a manner as to equalize, as nearly as practicable, the population in the respective divisions." (California State Water Code, Section 71160)

Historic Timeline (complied from the Hidden Valley Heritage, Escondido's First 100 Years, Alan McGreq, 1988)

1880	San Luis Rey Flume - Proposal to supply irrigation water for Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, San Luis Rey Valley, Carlsbad, and Encinitas fails (caused by the collapse of Escondido's early bloom).
1888	Incorporation of the City of Escondido - Escondido Land and Town Company promotes rapid increase in population
1889	Formation of Escondido Irrigation District - Built Bear Valley Reservoir which later became Lake Wohlford, named to honor Alvin Wohlford, a pioneer Escondido banker who took a leading role in local water development.
1905	Formation of Escondido Mutual Water Company - Formed to assume the assets of the Escondido Irrigation District. A private company, landowners received shares of stock based on their contribution to the Irrigation District. Escondido Mutual owned some shares outright. Newcomers were required to buy stock to get water meter service. Because the City did not like having a separate water company, it began building its own system and for a time the City had the distinction of having two parallel competing systems.
1923	Escondido acquired a portion of the water purchased by the Mutual Water Company, as well as the Mutual system within the City limits.
1950	Escondido becomes a member of the San Diego County Water Authority which allowed them to supply imported water.
1954	Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District - The name was first proposed as the Escondido Mutual Water District, but because of its expanded service area, directors adopted the Rincon del Diablo prefix, that being the name of the original Spanish land grant contained within the site of the new water agency. Originally formed so that unincorporated lands in the Escondido Valley would become eligible for membership in the Sa Diego County Water Authority. Rincon also sold wholesale water to the Mutual Water Company, which was not eligible for membership in the County Water Authority, and soon also retailed water directly to consumers outside the Mutual boundaries. Rincon acquired several small water districts: The Barker Water System, the Quiet Hills Mutual Water Company, and the Bear and Cub Water Sysytem.
Early 1960s	City of Escondido - Negotiations began with Mutual directors to buy and operate the rest of the Escondido Mutual Water Company.
Mid-1960s	Rincon Indians - The Rincon Indians contended that Mutual had no legal right to the water of the San Luis Rey River and, therefore, had nothing to sell the City. This was the beginning of decades of litigation and court hearings between Escondido, the Vista Irrigation District, and five bands of Mission Indians that went as far as the United States Supreme Court. Major elements of the settlement were reached in 2002, and a final settlement was incorporated into the landmark Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement, signed in October 2003 by the Southern California water users.
1970s	City of Escondido - Initiated the purchase of the Escondido Mutual Water Company and operated the company under proxy until completion of the sale in 1989 with payment to the shareholders.
1976	Rincon del Diablo Fire Protection District - Formed to provide fire and rescue services to the unincorporated areas of the Parent District (1989 operational control transferred to the District, and title deeded in 1999).
2004	Rincon del Diablo begins distribution of recycled water.

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	District Logo circa 1960
Our History	Historical Timeline